Loves Ignorance
by sassykitten1701
Summary: When a new power appears, threatening Magnolia, Fairy Tail's strongest team steps up to the challenge. What will they do though when one of their own is taken from them, and the reason for it is unknown? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1 Red Aura

When a new power appears, threatening Magnolia, Fairy Tail's strongest team steps up to the challenge. What will they do though when one of their own is taken from them, and the reason for it is unknown? Read to find out! [Natsu/Lucy][Gray/Juvia][Loke/Aries][Erza/Jellal] Rated T/M for future chapters if more of the story is wanted.

**I do not own Fairy Tail or any of it's characters, this is just my own little fantasy world with them in it**

This is my first one-shot fanfic, please be gentle! And of course review! May consider continuing depending on what people think of this first chapter.

Chapter 1 – Red Aura

Curses, snarls, and growls could be heard echoing through the shadowed, once peaceful meadow as Fairy Tail's strongest team fought to subdue the dark guild trying to overthrow them. This dark guild, Phantom's Fist, had already taken over other guilds in other towns, and now had their eyes on claiming Magnolia Town. Having just returned from a mission after nightfall, Erza, Gray, Lucy, and Natsu were not at their strongest, but still their bond as nakama gave them the strength needed to defend their home.

" _Ice Make: Shield!"_

" _Fire Dragon Talon!"_

Explosions echoed, blasting both guilds back, bending the trees surrounding back in the force. Flames quickly leapt into the trees, spreading to wash the meadow in a red glow.

"Dammit ash for brains you're not supposed to set fire to our own home!" Gray yelled, watching in frustration as Natsu's flames danced and jumped from tree to tree.

"Well excuse me ice prick! I thought we wanted to get rid of the enemy!"

"Guys, really, right now is not the best time!" Lucy snarled even as she snapped her whip out to wrap one of Phantom Fist's members in a tight bind.

"Lucy's right, we'll take care of the fire as soon as we can but dammit Natsu it's tempting to put a muzzle on you at times!" Erza yelled, pressing back against the enemy that she had locked swords with.

A sweatdrop appeared on each member of Phantom Fist's. "Uh….are you guys always like this?" Erza's opponent asked through gritted teeth in utter surprise at Fairy Tails interactions. The smirk that appeared on three of the Fairy Tail wizards faces had their opponents gulping, even as Lucy buried her face in her free hand.

Freeing one of her hands, Erza managed to give her rival a quick blow to the jaw, freeing her sword before jumping back to catch her breath for a bare moment.

"You Fairies may think you're tough, but we've got another trick up our sleeve…" Another member sneered before stepping back further, allowing another dark figure to step forward, an aura of blood red magic swimming and wrapping around their arms and torso. Feeling the putrid wave of hatred pulsing from this wizard, Erza, Gray, Natsu and Lucy tensed, shifting into stronger fighting stances, waiting to see what would be brought next.

In the Celestial World, the spirits belonging to Lucy shifted restlessly. They could tell something was wrong with their master but only one of them would be able to go to her side to help without her calling if the need arose. Even then he could only do so at the last possible moment. Because they shared the same master they were able to communicate with each-other silently and before long their unease sent them to Leo's home in the spirit world to gather around his own large viewing mirror.

Gritting his teeth, Leo tapped his fingers in a rapid staccato against the gilt frame of his mirror, watching Lucy closely as she stood along side her teammates against the dark guild opposing them. He didn't so much as flinch when he felt many presences pop up behind him. He knew his own friends could feel the danger to Lucy and would want to see if she was alright. A snarl almost escaped him when he felt one small, soft hand touch his shoulder timidly.

"Leo? What's happening? You're blocking the mirror so we can't see the fight. I'm sorry." Aries asked softly, flinching at the trace of the snarl that she saw him swallow. At his responding growl, she jumped back quickly, tucking her hands in to her sides. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you!" Aries cried out.

Growling again at her words, Leo shoved himself away from the mirror for the others to see even as he buried his hands in his pockets forming fists. Turning to Aries, the sweet little lamb spirit who had always been by his side, he couldn't keep the look of frustration from being turned on her, causing her to shrink back further.

"Please Leo I'm sorry! Is there anything I can do?" Aries asked with her head bowed. The other barely spared her a glance knowing that this was just the way she was. At the moment their focus was on the mirror and their master standing tall and strong with her whip held at the ready in her hand.

Releasing a frustrated breath, Leo shook his head, turning his gaze back to the mirror and the woman he knew he could never have because of the laws between their worlds. "No Aries, you're fine, it's not your fault." Gritting his teeth, he shifted to lean a shoulder against the frame of the mirror, body tense and ready to rush to his masters aid. The tension was growing between the zodiacs as they watched the battle continue.

...

*SNAP* The sound of Lucy's whip gave her a sense of satisfaction as with a quick flick of her wrist it wrapped around the forearm of one of the dark mages forearms, keeping him from completing a spell. In all honesty she wasn't worried about the man, she was more worried about the made with the red aura who had yet to show themselves from under their cloak. There was something about this made that had her senses tingling, as well as the keys at her hip pulsing hotly. When her keys started doing that she knew there was definitely something wrong. She didn't want to call them out yet though since they were her friends and she didn't want them hurt.

The shifting of feet drew the attention of Fairy Tails strongest team as the mage pulsing in red separated themselves from the rest of their guild before removing their cloak. Lucy was not the only one to find herself blinking quickly at the strange sight. What appeared to be a child was sitting cross legged….in mid air….and had a look of utter boredom on her face. What caught their attention most though was that the child appeared angelic. Platinum blond hair flowed past her shoulder, sky blue eyes stared at them with contempt and boredom, pale skin glimmered in the light from the fire, and pale robes could be seen fluttering ever so slightly around her. Seeing such an angelic form surrounded by a pulsing red aura, and waves of hatred flowing from her had everyone on edge. It didn't go unnoticed that as this child came forward, the others with her stepped further back.

Swallowing hard against the ball of fear that wanted to choke her, Lucy drew her whip back with another quick twist of her wrist, unconsciously stepping to the side and closer to Natsu who in turn shifted ever so slightly to place himself between her and Phantoms' Fist. Any other time Erza would've taken note of this with a smirk, but now she was glad for Natsu's protective tendencies towards Lucy.

"Get what we came here for Anna, we'll take care of the others." A voice commanded from those who had stepped back.

"Of course. This shouldn't take long." The child before them answered, her voice echoing through the darkness around them. Lucy didn't even have time to blink before she found herself trapped in the same red aura as the child, being pulled through the air quickly enough that the air whistled around her. She choked on her own breath at the how quickly things had happened, stunned to find herself facing her own team.

" _LUCY!"_

…..

A small crater appeared in the wall next to Leo's mirror as he slammed his fist into the wall. Without a word to the other zodiacs he disappeared in a burst of gold light. Shifting restlessly the others continued watching the mirror, seeing Leo appear a moment later behind the child, his hands already glowing as he leapt up to grab Lucy from her trap.

…..

"NATSU! GRAY! ERZA! BE CAREFUL!" Lucy cried out as she saw her friends leap forward to help her. Unfortunately a line of runes appeared between her and them, and on contact electricity ran through each of them, causing them to cry out in pain. As they fell to the ground in agony, mores runes sped across the ground, trapping them in a circle. Closing her eyes to help her focus, Lucy shifted her arms in her binds, trying to get her hand down to her keys. A sudden warmth exploded across her back and with a gasp she looked over her shoulder to find Leo jumping up to wrap his arms around her.

"Loke!"

"Sorry I'm late Lucy! I know I've talked about having a nighttime stroll with you, but I was hoping it'd be just us, not others as well." Loke said with a smirk even as he wrapped his arms around her, using his glowing hands to try and free her from the aura surrounding her. His jaw dropped in shock when he found he found his hands falling through the aura – and landing right on Lucys breasts. It took every ounce of his will to not get a nosebleed, and the resulting shriek in his ear was expected.

"PERVERT!"

He decided for now that responding to that accusation would not be in anyones best interest and quickly shifted his hands further down. He was touching Lucy, had his arms around her, but for the life of him, he couldn't grip the aura, nor could he free Lucy from it. The light from his hands wasn't even doing anything to it, in fact he would've sworn his light was dimming, being sucked into the aura itself. Hearing a slight tsking sound, he looked down to see the child with the red aura looking up at him with a sense of dull reprimand on her face.

"No one can touch my aura unless I allow it. My aura doesn't touch anyone unless I allow it. My aura bends to my command, trapping, draining, even consuming any I choose. Freeing your master simply isn't possible." With that being said, a surge of power knocked Loke away, sending him skidding over the ground behind Natsu. Breathing out a curse, Leo stumbled to his feet, hunched over and breathing hard as he stared in growing horror at Lucy.

"Don't worry though. You'll be joining us soon enough Leo the lion, king of the celestial spirits." With the first smirk any of them had seen, the child snapped her fingers, and the Fairy Tail members watched in horror as the red aura surrounding Lucy became thicker, seeming to swallow her whole before disappearing into nothing.

"What have you done with Lucy?!" Natsu shouted, running forward with hands aflame, pounding against the wall of runes.

"That is no longer any of your concern. Now be a good little dragon slayer and go to sleep." Another snap of the fingers and a streak of red lashed out to snap across his face, knocking him back into the other side of the runes. Between the two attacks, Natsu fell to the ground staring out at the others through a blurred vision.

"Natsu! Natsu can you hear me?!" Loke snarled, having been able to stagger over to check on him. Natsu didn't acknowledge him; instead he watched through labored breathing as the angelic looking child gave a crazed smirk before disappearing with another snap of her fingers, taking the rest of her guild with her.

"Natsu! Come on snap out of it!" Gray snarled from above him, hands fisted at his sides.

"Gray! We don't know how hurt he is!" Erza snapped, kneeling down on his other side.

"Natsu, can you hear us? Natsu?" Loke asked firmly, reaching down to touch shake his shoulder only to snatch his hand back with a hiss of pain. His skin was still sparking from his run in with the rune wall, and made his skin burning hot.

"L-Lucy…" Natsu whispered, eyes still locked on where he had seen her last, the look of terror on her face etched into his brain as she was swallowed by whatever magic that child held. "L-Lucy…haven't….told…her….my…mate….she's….gone….." At that, the darkness swallowed him as well, curses from the others following him into oblivion.


	2. Chapter 2 A Dragons Pain

**Again I do not own Fairy Tail!**

I'm still getting the feel for this, so please be gentle!

For those who read and reviewed the first chapter, thank you! Love you lots! And as you can see, I'm encouraged to continue. Hopefully you'll continue to enjoy and follow my storyline. See you around!

Chapter 2 A Dragons Pain

He ached. He didn't know why but the pain he felt was different from that of the physical. Physical aches and pains he could ignore; after all of the missions and fights he'd been in his pain tolerance was insanely high. But this. This ache was something different. It made him want to scream out in anger, roar in agony. Something wasn't right. He needed to be somewhere, get someone, but who? Gritting his teeth against each throb fighting him, he struggled to throw off the smothering darkness, only to find he couldn't move. What was wrong with him?

"—do we do? Even Gajeel can't pick up her trail." Someone close by muttered, voice hushed. Natsu could hear the tension and worry lacing those words and he stilled for a moment to listen as more voices reached him in his own personal void.

"And I can't track my key. No matter what has happened in the past, I've always been able to find Lucy through my key and now I can't even do that." Another voice snarled followed by a dull thud.

"If we can't find her through our own means, then how the hell is Salamander going to find her?" The tone of this voice reminded Natsu of storms and electricity. Laxus. Where the hell was he?

"Maybe because they're mates?" A soft voice asked, echoing closer to Natsu's ears, causing a sense of awareness to stir through him.

"Nah. He hasn't claimed her yet so that link hasn't been formed otherwise I'd agree with you shrimp." These words were growled and caused Natsu to tense like he was ready for a fight. He knew that voice.

A small huff was heard in reaction to the nickname before it was followed by more words. "And how would you know whether or not he has? Have you claimed a mate?" Levy asked. Natsu was starting to be able to tell who was who from their voices, and could feel something more stirring from the back of his mind; still he couldn't move though.

"Believe me, you'd know if I had claimed my mate, and if he had. A symbol appears after the claiming and mating, plus I would've been able to smell it on him." A gruff voice, Gajeel, answered her. "The only thing I know is that I knew she was his mate even before he did. The signs were all there, he was just too much of an airhead about it before."

"When did he figure it out?"

"Before the last mission. He came to talk to me about it, and I clued him in on some things. Told him he should take care of it while they were gone. But no, he wanted to wait, and then this thing with Phantoms Fist happened and there wasn't time."

"Does that mean you know who your mate is?" Levy asked in honest fascination. Being in a guild with not one, not two, not three, but FOUR dragonslayers made her thirst for knowledge about dragons endless and when not doing research for missions could often be found reading all she could about dragons. She had read about how a dragon or dragon slayer would know who their mate was, but the mate wouldn't know until they were approached by the dragon.

' _Mate….that's right….he knew his mate….Lucy…._ '

Natsu could hear a throat clearing, and in his minds eye could just imagine Gajeel glancing away from the bookworm with his cheeks stained red. "Yea I know who it is, but she's not ready yet, so don't ask." Gajeel answered gruffly.

Natsu knew who Gajeels mate was, even with being an airhead, and to save the metal head from further questioning, and knowing that something else was wrong, Natsu was able to open his eyes with a pained groan, drawing the attention of those around him.

"About damn time Natsu!" Loke snapped, stepping closer and leaning down to check Natsu over. Past his shoulder Natsu could see those who he had already heard, along with Wendy sitting quietly close by. Looking around he found more empty beds, and lights shining brightly above him.

"Where the hell am I?" Natsu croaked, clearing his throat when he felt his throat catch around his words.

"Where else? The guilds infirmary. And before you ask, you've been out of it for a week." Levy answered, settling her slight weight down on the edge of his bed.

"Wait-a week? Where is everyone? Erza? Gray? Lucy? Wait-where's Lucy?!" Natsu snarled before sitting up quickly only to grasp his head as it tried to roll of his shoulders in pain. The drawn out silence was torture for him; with a deep breath he managed to focus past the pounding in his head and looked up to find that the others were either staring at their feet or exchanging worried looks. "Dammit, where is she?" He asked quietly, watching as each person there flinched. Even Laxus flinched, knowing that as soon as Natsu knew what had happened, all hell was going to break lose. Usually the absence of the guilds one and only celestial mage wouldn't bother Laxus, but when he had found out she was the salamanders mate…even he had started to keep an eye on her for everyones safety. Gritting his teeth, he lifted his gaze to meet Natsus eyes straight on.

"We don't know. It's been a week since she was taken, since you, Erza, Gray, and Loke were freed from the runes that you were stuck in, and Lucy's smell doesn't go beyond where the fight was. Gajeel and I couldn't even pick up her scent, and Loke hasn't been able to track his key." Laxus answered bluntly, everyone shifting as they braced themselves for Natsus reaction. Even Levy and Loke quickly stepped away from him as Laxus had spoken, knowing that as soon as Natsu realized what he'd heard was not what he had wanted to hear. Lazus watched from the corner of his eye as Gajeel eased himself in front of Levy and started backing up slowly as the heat radiating from the fire dragon slayer increased dramatically, knowing that he was about to explode in 4….3….2….

" _DAAAMMMIIIITTTT!"_

The wave of fire that burst from Natsu at that point was strong enough to knock everyone across the room, sending beds and tables flying. Any other time Laxus and Gajeel would've beaten the crap out of him for losing control like this, but they knew better this time. A dragon slayers mate was to be protected at all costs, even the cost of the dragon slayers life, and to have not claimed said mate and not been able to protect her was something that no dragon ever wanted to go through. Just the idea of having something like this happen to either of their mates had Laxus's and Gajeels inner dragon roaring in denial.

Hissing in pain, everyone slowly managed to get back to their feet, Gajeel helping Levy to hers, and looked to find that Natsu was no longer on his bed, but rather at the door to the infirmary, pounding at the rune wall that had been placed by Freed as a precaution.

"Natsu. Natsu!. Dammit Natsu you can't do anything right now!" Loke shouted, knowing that his friend wasn't thinking straight.

"Yes I can! I have to go after her! They could be doing anything to her right now and it's all my fault!" Natsu roared, throwing his body against the door and runes repeatedly. He was so hell bent on getting past the runes that the rest of the world had faded for him and he didn't even notice the looks of pain and understanding the other slayers gave him before Laxus stepped forward and, with a grimace, called down a bolt of lightning strong enough to knock Natsu back out.

Letting out a tired sigh, Laxus and Gajeel bent down to pick him up and deposit him once more on the bed he'd been on. The only bed still where it belonged rather than tossed across the room. Once he was situated, Loke pulled up a chair to keep an eye on him while the others left the room to get some food. They knew it wouldn't be long before Natsu was awake again, but hopefully they'd have some new information by that time.

* * *

She couldn't move….her head was pounding and the room spun before her eyes as she managed to crack them open. She couldn't tell up from down, or where she was. She just knew she was in a place full of shadows and could feel the rough texture of straw across her bare back. Biting back the whimper that wanted to escape, Lucy managed to move her eyes around herself, seeing that she was in some kind of cell. What looked like a bowl of water was next to her, and immediately she tried to reach for it, only to find that part of her pain was coming from her arms being restrained above her head. Sighing in frustration, Lucy let her head fall back onto a part of her arm. She didn't know how long she had been there and she was getting tired of being the one to get kidnapped. There were times she swore she had a neon sign on her ass asking to be stolen away.

Letting out another huff of breath, Lucy took another look around at the otherwise empty cell before turning her thoughts to her own body to assess what damage there was. Shifting slightly, she flexed her hands, her feet, took a deep breath, bent and straightened her legs only to find that nothing was broken. She did feel like something was missing though. Shifting again it took her a moment to realize that she familiar weight of her whip and keys were missing. Looking back up at the ceiling, Lucy took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves to keep from panicking.

"Ah, so you're awake finally." A voice snapped through the dimness of the cell, claiming Lucy's attention to the other side of the bars at the front of the cell. A shadowed tall figure could be seen, much like the night when she had been taken. Rather than respond, Lucy kept her mouth shut and glared at the person. Honestly if her glare could be changed into any of her friends powers, the person probably would've been killed from the look alone.

"Now now Lady Lucy, don't be that way. We would put you up in a more comfortable room if we knew that you wouldn't run away. However, we know that's not to be the case, so you must stay here." The person, sounding muffled, explained even as they shifted closer to the bars.

"What the hell do you want with me?" Lucy gritted out after a few moments of terse silence. "And how long have I been here?"

"It's been almost a month since you've been here, and with the full moon coming up in a few days, you'll finally be of use to us. You and your celestial spirits. And your little fairy friends haven't even bothered to look for you." The voice was calm but still Lucy could hear the smugness in the tone.

"NO! Do what you want with me but leave my spirits out of this!" Lucy screamed, starting to yank on her chains to try and free her wrists.

"No can do my dear. To go forward with our plans we need you and your spirits. Anna, come get started." With that said, the person stepped away to show the child in white clothing standing behind them. Again, a look of boredom was on the childs face as she stepped forward and with a wave of her hand opened and entered the cell.

"Wait-what are you going to do to me?!" Lucy snarled, yanking harder on her arms and trying to get as far from the child as possible.

"Don't worry, we're not going to kill you. We don't have our own celestial mage. We are however, going to have plenty of fun with you." Anna answered, stepping closer to lift her hands toward Lucy. As the childs blood aura started snaking around Lucy once again, Lucy could feel it forcing itself into her skin, into her mind, and that was when she knew what they were going to do.

She screamed.

* * *

"NATSUUU!"

Loke flailed and landed with a thud on the floor from where he had been sitting in a chair next to Natsu even as Natsu shot up-right, eyes wide and panting like he'd just been in a massive battle.

"LUCY!" Natsu yelled before burying his face in his hands as sobs shook his body. Shakily Loke managed to climb back into his seat, running trembling fingers through his mane of orange hair. A bare moment later the sound of multiple sprinting footsteps could be heard followed by the infirmary door flying open to slam against a wall. Laxus, Gajeel, Wendy, Levy, Freed, and the three exceeds tumbled into the room before rushing over to surround Natsu and Loke.

"What the hell happened?!" Laxus demanded, watching the other fire dragon slayer closely. He was used to seeing Natsu cry at times, but this…this was a whole new level of crying that he knew only came from being away from an in danger mate. Shooting a quick glance at Gajeel and Wendy, he saw that they could tell this was different from what Natsu usually felt as well and it was worrying even them.

"We don't entirely know, we just know that it has to do with Lucy." Loke answered quietly, gaining everyones attention. "I was dozing here and the next thing I know I'm in an amount of pain that I've never felt before, and would have sworn I heard Lucy screaming, and then Natsu was awake and that was probably him you heard yelling for her."

Bodies tensed in worry and anger for their fellow guildmate rippled through each person even as magical energy started pulsing around them.

"What does that mean for Lucy then?" Levy asked quietly, watching Natsu with concern as he continued to shudder and cry into his hands. Before anyone could find some sort of answer for her, a cry of pain was heard. Levy swung about to see where it came from only to see Loke bent over in his chair, clutching at his chest and panting with a look of fear taking over him. Acting before thinking, Levy slid off the bed to kneel before him, grasping his shoulders to brace him.

"Loke! What is it? What's wrong?" Wendy asked while stepping closer.

"Sh-she's not….she's not dead…but…she's dying!" Loke panted through gritted teeth. A keening wail sounded from the bed and without looking, Levy knew that Lokes' words had reached Natsu. Wincing at the sound of his cry, Levy was able to glance down to where Loke was clutching his fist to find that some sort of blood colored aura was showing past his fingers and spreading slowly to the rest of him.

Everyone cringed as the wail from Natsu got louder but not a single one of them had the heart to get shut him up. This was a sound that no one ever wanted to hear again. The sound of a dragon on the verge of losing his mate.


	3. Chapter 3 Death of an Unclaimed Mate

**I do not won Fairy Tail!**

 **A/N** \- Reviews

sidjr100 - I'm hoping to continue updating on a fairly regular basis, however with being in school, and finals coming up soon, it might get a little harder until the summer.

fanficlove2014 - It's only going to get worse before it gets better, however there is a little bit of sweetness I'd like to think in this chapter for a bit of refreshment

Rinjichi - I'm glad you're enjoying it, I hope you continue to do so!

Chapter 3: Death of an Unclaimed Mate

She knew no pain. She knew no sight or sound or touch. She was just hanging there in suspension as something happened to her. She had been here for almost six months now and she knew something was happening, but she didn't know what. She was numb to everything and for that she was glad. A part of her somehow knew that she had retreated into herself, to protect herself, as things were done to her that she knew she wouldn't be able to handle. She knew she was losing herself. She was losing sight of what made her Lucy. And she knew those she once called friends weren't coming. For this, she embraced what was happening to her. She embraced the freedom that she was being given.

* * *

The silence in the guild hall was deafening, more so for the dragon slayers sitting together at one table. It had been six months since one of their own had been taken from them and still they didn't know where she was. The only thing they knew for certain was that she was still alive. No one said much these days for fear of unleashing the wrath of the guilds fire dragon slayer, knowing that even the slightest thing could set him off at any moment. Thankfully said dragon slayer stayed away most of the time, going on endless jobs to find any information he could about the dark guild Phantoms Fist, and any news that might be around of Lucy.

Six months before, after hearing that she was dying from Loke as Natsu recovered from the battle that she was stolen away from, the entire guild had been informed of the situation and that Natsu had been and still was on the edge of a psychotic break. Worry for Loke was felt by everyone as he continued to go back and forth between Earthland and the spirit world trying to find any information he could about Lucy. The concern grew to include each of Lucy's spirits as what appeared to be a red aura seemed to be eating away at each of them slowly.

As each day passed and the symptoms became worse, Freed and Levy with many of the guild mates buried themselves in the library to find anything that might point them in the right direction while the stronger fighters took missions and set out to search for Lucy themselves. It was so hard to keep up the hope that she was still alive but when Loke came back every other day or so, they knew she was still around. With the red aura growing and eating away at Loke though, they knew they were running out of time.

They weren't entirely sure how, but they knew that that aura had something to do with Lucy.

Tonight team Natsu with the Thunder Legion, Wendy, Juvia, Levy, Gajeel, and Loke sat together at one table, picking absently at the food in front of them. None of them knew what to say to the other, least of all to Natsu who sat glaring at his food like it was the one keeping Lucy from him.

"Loke how much longer?" Natsu asked quietly. His sudden words caused everyone at the table to jump and turned towards him warily. Clearing his throat slightly, Loke attempted to sit up a bit from his slumped position, fighting the pain that shot through him more and more every day.

"I-I don't know Natsu. None of the celestial spirits have been able to find her, not even the king." Loke answered, anger at himself evident in his voice and wariness at how Natsu would react.

"Then what fucking good are you?!" Natsu roared, shoving himself back from the table even as fire erupted around him and the others scrambled back from him.

"Natsu! That's enough! He's doing all he can you know that!" Erza shouted, quickly placing herself in front of Loke.

"Then that's not good enough!"

"Natsu! You're not the only one worried for bunny-girl!" Gajeel growled, looking back over his shoulder. As soon as he had seen Natsu jump up he had shifted to put an arm around Levy's waist, twisting to take the brunt of the heat coming off of his fellow dragon slayer. As Natsu spun around to face him, Gajeel braced himself, getting ready to shove Levy out of the way.

"That's damn easy for you to say tin-head, when you have your mate right there in your grasp and you haven't grown the goddamn balls to claim her! You have your mate next to you, and you're being an idiot with nuts for brains because you're too fucking scared to tell her!" Natsu snarled, ignoring the warning growl and dodging the iron arm that lashed out at him. Continuing his move, Natsu spun to face Laxus who was watching him with a snarl on his own face. "And you! You haven't claimed your mate either! How stupid can you guys be?" Dodging another fist, this time laced with lightning, Natsu backed up just enough to be able to face the iron and lightning dragon slayers.

"You need to stop Natsu, right the fuck now!" Laxus snarled, clenching his fists as he fought to keep his eyes shifting to the silver haired demon that manned the bar of the guild. He could smell the surprise from everyone in the guild, and knew from the burning at the base of his neck that his own mate was intensely aware of him at this moment. But he didn't need her to know about that yet, he wasn't ready! "You don't know what the hell you're talking about Natsu!" There was no stopping Natsu when he was like this though, hurting for his own mate, and worrying that his fellow dragon slayers would end up facing the same thing he was right now.

"The hell I don't Laxus! You're supposed to be the strongest one of us slayers and yet you can't man up enough to tell Mira that she's yours?! What bullshit!"

Laxus froze at the anger and pain filled eyes of Natsu, even as he heard the quiet gasp come from behind him. Letting his eyes fall shut in resignation, he realized he didn't have the drive to fight Natsu anymore, not when he knew Natsu was right.

"And you Gajeel! Levy's your mate, you know that! You're the iron dragon slayer dammit, of us you can literally have balls of steel, or in your case iron, and yet you haven't told her! Well congratulations, they now know! Now maybe you idiots will do something about it before what happened to Lucy happens to them!"

Gulping, Gajeel stumbled as he felt the small familiar body of Levy slam into his back, her arms wrapping around his waist. Lifting a hand to cover the ones resting on his stomach, Gajeel found himself backing down from the rage on his friends face. Silence fell over the guild hall once more as the anger slowly drained from Natasu; lifting his hands, he scrubbed them over his face before gripping handfuls of hair in hopes that the pain from that would help clear his head faster. Bringing his focus back to Laxus and Gajeel with tired eyes, he simply shook his head at them.

"Y-you knew who their mates were?" Wendy asked timidly, stepping up to rest a hand on Laxus's arm, watching as a sadness swam into Natsu's eyes.

"Yea. I knew. Just as they knew that Lucy is mine. And yes Wendy, I know who's yours is, you just haven't reached the age to claim him yet. Do your own self a favor Wendy. As soon as you can, tell him. Don't leave Romeo in the dark for long alright? And you two? I know you wanted to tell them in your own time, but I don't want to see what Lucy and I are going through right now happen to you. So just man up and talk to them." With that said, Natsu turned and walked out of the guild hall, leaving a stunned audience behind.

Of the three dragon slayers left in the hall, Wendy wasn't sure if she was the lucky one or not with Romeo having been elsewhere when this happened. Macao on the other hand…..Wendy sighed before turning to find him looking at her with a shocked look on his face. Taking a deep breath, she nodded to the others before approaching her mates father.

* * *

**Laxus**

Watching Natsu leave, Laxus slumped slightly in defeat. He had heard Mira gasp at Natsu's statement, and he knew he wasn't going to be able to leave the hall himself without an explanation. Gulping, he straightened his shoulders, meeting Wendy's than Gajeels eyes for a moment before turning to face the stunned blue eyes of his mate. For some reason, seeing the same resignation he felt reflected in the other two dragon slayers eyes had made him feel better. Now he just had to confront his mate. He wanted to be pissed at Natsu for what he did, but he couldn't find it in himself to be mad. Not when it actually has helped him.

Unconsciously fisting his hands, he took another breath and approached the bar where his mate waited.

* * *

**Gajeel**

Gajeel trembled as he felt Levy's arms tighten around him. He honestly had no idea what to do right now, but this was not how he had been planning on telling her that she was his mate. Hell if he was being really honest, the damn salamander had been right. He hadn't thought he'd ever be able to actually tell Levy how he really felt.

'Shitfuckshitfuckshit' Gajeel mentally cursed. Swallowing hard against the lump of anxiety that took up residence in his throat, he was able to loosen Levy's arms just enough to turn around so they were facing each other.

"Um-" Gajeel stopped to clear his throat. He bloody well couldn't figure out what to say! The sudden stinging pain in his arm had him letting out a yelp as he cringed away from her. What the hell? She'd pinched him!

"You pinched me! What the fuck did you do that for?!" Gajeel yelped, lifting a hand to rub his arm while looking down at her in surprise.

"I'm your mate?! When the HELL were you going to tell me!" Levy growled, fisting a hand to thump it against his chest.

Cringing, Gajeel rubbed a hand against the back of his head, staring at the blunette before him. "Honestly?"

"Yes honestly! Dammit Gajeel!"

"I don't know alright!" He snapped, folding his arms across his chest to protect it from light pounding of her fists. "I didn't know when I was going to tell you because I wasn't sure how you would take it. After everything that I did to you, I know I don't deserve you, and all I want is for you to be happy! Even if that means it's with someone else! If I claim you then it's just you for me and vice versa and if anyone got close to you or tried I'd likely rip their head off." Gajeel explained with a sullen look on his face as he tried to look anywhere but at her.

"Gajeel…." Levy sighed softly. "You fucking idiot." Before the surprise at her wording could fully sink into his head, she reached up and with determination, pulled his face down to kiss him deeply, letting all of her frustrations and longing be felt through their first kiss.

As her unique scent mixed with the smell of her arousal washed over him, Gajeel felt himself stiffen in shock before going limp in pure ecstasy, a low purr rumbling from his chest as he wrapped his arms around his mate, pressing her closer to him. Slipping his tongue past her lips to tease hers, he purred harder as her taste washed through him, feeling like his nerves were shooting off sparks. She knew now. Levy knew she was his mate and accepted that fact. Nipping at her lips for more of her taste, he shifted to press kisses along her jaw to her neck and ear, purring the whole time, watching through narrowed eyes and feeling the goosebumps that raced over her skin.

Pressing a wicked smile against her skin, hearing her breath catch only to release on a long low moan, he nipped the lobe of her ear before whispering seductively.

"You're mine Levy, only mine, forever."

* * *

**Laxus**

Watching Mira closely, Laxus didn't realize he had started adjusting his posture to make himself appear bigger; a dragon trying to appeal to and claim his mate. Back straightened further, shoulders back, chin lifted almost in a cocky sense, and a serious look in his eyes. As he approached the bar where she was waiting apprehensively, he was going through all of the different ways that he could tell her and couldn't figure out one.

Absently he heard the conversation between Gajeel and Levy and couldn't help but smirk at Levy calling Gajeel a 'fucking idiot'. He had to give it to the script mage. She was small and her strengths relied heavily on her knowledge, but damn she was fierce too. He just knew that she'd give Gajeel a run for his money any time he pissed her off. Turning his focus back on Mira as he got closer to her, he fought the shudder that tried to ripple through him. If she accepted him he knew that he would be in the same boat when it came to mates and their tempers. Hell, Mira's temper rivaled Erza's and the masters, enough to make everyone cautious about pissing her off.

Taking another deep breath, Laxus finally stood before Mirajane, close enough for her to have to tip her head back to keep her eyes on his as she looked at him in surprise. He still didn't entirely know what the hell he was going to say to her, but he knew he was going to have to do something. At the sound of his name on her lips though, his control slipped.

"Laxus, wh-oh!" Mira yipped as she found herself trapped between the solid body of the Laxus and the unrelenting wood of the bar behind her, being kissed thoroughly by the guilds thunder dragon slayer. One hand was buried in her hair while the other swept down her back to her hips to press her tighter against him. At the feeling of the stiffness digging into her lower stomach she gasped against the soft and pulsing mouth pressed against her own.

"You're mine Mira. Only mine." The growled comment against her lips had Mira's legs trembling and a shiver racing through her. If it wasn't for being pressed between a hard bar and a hard body, she was fairly certain she would've been a puddle at his feet. Letting out a low moan at the increased sensation behind the kiss she was being ravaged with, she slid her arms around him to clutch at his shoulders.

* * *

**Wendy**

Biting her lip nervously, Wendy cautiously approached her eventual father-in-law. She could hear and smell that Laxus and Gajeel were talking with their mates, and she was glad that they were following Natsu's advice. Her own mate, however, wasn't there, so she was going to have to deal with Macao instead. He was staring at her in a bit of shock still, so when she finally reached a point of being closer to him, she stopped to fidget before him.

"So….Romeo's your mate huh? Aren't you a bit young for that?" Macao stated bluntly, rubbing a hand across his jaw as he stared down at the blushing blue haired girl standing before him.

"Yes. To both questions. I haven't reached the age of maturity for dragon slayers yet…but I learned how a mate is found and Romeo is my mate. I haven't told him yet; I'm worried that I'll only scare him away. But I don't plan on hurting him Macao. Dragon slayers are very protective of their mates, and only love one person in their life." Wendy answered shyly, gaze locked on the ground between her feet.

Shifting a hand to rub at the back of his neck, Macao let his thoughts drift with Wendy's words. He already knew how Romeo felt the small sky dragon slayer; it was obvious as the feelings that the other dragons had for their mates. Always watching and aware of the other. He had to admit that if Romeo was going to end up with someone, Wendy was definitely one of the better options. And because he knew Wendy was a good girl he knew that she'd never intentionally harm his son. Letting out a sigh, Macao brought his attention back to the small healing mage to meet the eyes that were now staring so worriedly at him. Smiling gently, he lifted a hand to pat her on the head, letting his other hand slip into a pants pocket.

"No need to look so worried Wendy. I would be and am honored to have you as a daughter-in-law. Natsu was right though. As soon as you can, you need to tell Romeo and then you can work things out from there."

Slumping in relief, she smiled up at him before wrapping her arms around him in a grateful hug. When a familiar and calming scent drifted past her nose, Wendy could feel her cheeks heat as she let out a squeak before spinning around to find Romeo standing just inside the guild hall doors. Glancing around to see the still fairly silent members focusing on three dragon slayers, Romeo moved his gaze till it landed at the blue haired dragon slayer that he was crushing on hard but refused to admit it.

"Uh…what's going on here?" He asked her, knowing he'd get the truth from her at least. He noted in both delight in curiosity the way her face flushed a deep red and the quick gulp she took. He glanced around once more to find that even Laxus and Gajeel were darting looks between Wendy and him with knowing looks on their face.

"You might as well tell him Wendy since Natsu already confirmed and announced it to everyone else. Unless you want one of us or Natsu to tell him instead." Gajeel chuckled, wrapping his arms around his shrimp a little tighter. The glare she shot at him only caused him to laugh harder, clutching his prize closer.

"Idiot." Wendy muttered. Hurrying forward, she grabbed Romeo's hand to pull him further into the guild and into a back corner where the other dragon slayers and their mates joined them, followed by a quiet, pained, watchful Loke.

* * *

**Full View**

By some unspoken agreement, the dragon slayers and their mates gathered around a table in a back corner of the hall with Loke joining them. Gajeel sat down first, pulling Levy into his lap to soak up the fact that she had accepted him; Mira and Laxus sat next to him while Romeo, Wendy, and Loke sat across from them. The low buzz of overlapping conversation started up as the rest of the hall gave the group their privacy.

"What's going on guys? And when did you guys get together?" Romeo asked, looking across the table to the two men with ladies pressed against them. It didn't slip past him when Laxus draped his arm behind Mira and idly started playing with strands of her hair.

Smirking over Levy's shoulder, Gajeel turned to Wendy. "Why don't you explain shorty, since you have to explain your own to him." As a bright blush stained her cheeks, his smirk turned into a grin and he heard Laxus chuckle lightly next to him. Realizing that she wasn't going to get any help from the two couples, Wendy let out a defeated sigh before waving a hand at them.

"Romeo, do you remember anything about dragon slayers and their mates from the studying we did, and the research Levy shared?"

"Of course. Levy mentioned multiple times that she wanted to learn all she could to help them. When she found the part about mates, my ears didn't stop ringing for three hours with the amount of information that she started rambling on about." Romeo answered, glancing first at the now blushing Levy, then shifting his gaze to the knowing smirk of the dragon slayer behind her.

"Determined were we?" Gajeel muttered into her wickedly.

"Shut it you." Levy huffed, refusing to react more than that. "Go on Wendy."

"Ok. Well, what do you remember?"

Scratching his head, Romeo stared at the table for a moment, bringing back the memories of that particular day. "Um, not as much as you think. Or at least I don't think so. When Levy gets that way, I try and escape because I never know when a word will literally appear to smack me on the head." He answered sheepishly, causing those at the table to chuckle once more.

Sighing, Wendy simply shook her head. "Tell us what you do remember then."

"Um….dragon slayers have only one real mate right? I mean yea they can see others before that, but once they find their mate, then that's it for them. Something about the dragons have to claim and mark their mate to create a link that will allow them to find each other whenever and wherever needed right? And it's a for eternity thing? Beyond death I suppose, maybe if they're reborn they always find each other in the next life and claim each other again?" Romeo said with some uncertainty, glancing at the young girl next to him.

Nodding, Levy and Wendy smiled in approval. Even the men smirked.

"That's the overall general idea of it. There's a little bit more to that though." Laxus continued before looking back at Wendy to continue.

Clearing her throat while trying to get some courage at the next bit of information out, Wendy turned just enough to be looking at Romeo directly. Taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, she put herself into lecture mode.

"Yes that's the general gist. Dragons have a mate, they find the mate, they claim and mark said mate, a bond is formed that can't be broken, even by death. It is possible for a dragon to find their mate before they reach maturity, and depending on the dragons choice, they can inform their mate or wait. Once a dragon has found their mate though, a dragon can no longer experience intimacy with anyone else." Shooting a quick smile at Mira and Levy before continuing her explanation. "And typically the mate of the dragon can be with others if they have not yet been informed even though it can cause a great deal of upset for the dragon, it's by their own doing by not informing said mate. Once their mate has been informed, but not claimed though, it's usually a good idea for that mate to avoid having relationships with others for the potential danger it can be for others. You see, dragons are very protective and fiercely protective of their mates." Wendy paused for a breath before continuing, not seeing the rapt attention she was being given by her own mate.

"While Laxus and Gajeel have verbally claimed their mates, they have not yet physically done so. Physical claiming is a sexual ritual that is followed by being marked. When a mate has been claimed and marked, a symbol representing their mate appears where they've been marked or bitten. Once that bond has been formed, mates of dragons live as long as the dragon does. If the dragon dies, then the mate dies. If the mate dies, the dragon can live on, however death would be considered preferred as the dragon is likely to go through a psychotic break."

"Ok that explains why these four are suddenly so close. They're mates. But what does this have to do with me? You wouldn't have dragged me over here without good reason." Romeo stated, shooting a happy smile at his friends before turning back to Wendy. He was surprised as he watched her entire face flush a bright red. It was even more telling when she found an invisible spot on the table that she had to work on removing right then. Hearing a clearing throat, Romeo glanced back across the table to his friends to find Levy catch his eye, before purposely sliding her eyes to Wendy and back again with a smirk.

Blinking in confusion, he looked back to Wendy to see that she appeared to be an even brighter red. Why the hell had Levy given him that-oh! Romeo froze in place, staring at the young girl next to him for a moment, feeling his own face heat up drastically. Shifting only his eyes back across the table, he again caught the knowing smirks on all four of the mages sitting across from him and Wendy. Meeting Gajeels' eyes this time, he saw the confirming nod he was given. Romeo wasn't stupid. He knew that the others tended to keep information regarding their lifestyles to themselves unless it was needed to explain something. And then they only explained it to those who really needed to know. Dragons could be a very private bunch.

Some of the things that the rest of the guild knew about, such as the fact that dragons have mates, had only been found out because Levy had shared what information she had found, and simply asked for the dragon slayers to confirm or deny. Having the guild know about this knowledge was actually a good thing as it allowed them to be aware of what would happen once their mates were claimed and what it meant for both the guild and outsiders. Clearing his throat, Romeo shifted his attention back to Wendy.

He now understood why she was telling him these things, but he had to hear from her himself, not just from the other slayers.

"Wendy? Why are you telling me all of this?" He asked gently, laying a hand over the hand that was nearly rubbing a hole into the table, stilling her movements. He gave a mental cheer at the slight gasp he heard as he ran a thumb across the back of her knuckles, reveling in the tingles that shot up his arm just from that affectionate contact.

"Because with everything that has happened concerning Natsu and Lucy, Natsu kind of, well-"

"He kicked us in the ass hard enough to knock our heads out of them, and announced who our mates were to the whole guild, mates included." Laxus broke in with a slight grin, tightening his arm around Mira's shoulder. "At that point we had to tell them or face the wrath of our mates later."

Chuckling at that visual, Romeo could understand what he meant. The ladies may be the sweetest ladies he knew, but they could also be the scariest and he wouldn't want to get on their bad side at all.

"That still doesn't tell me why I'm being told about this." Romeo said with an innocent face, though the drawl they could hear in his voice showed that he wasn't as dumb as he was letting on.

When a frustrated growl erupted from the young girl next to him, he had to fight the urge to run from what he knew to be her wrath. She was just as scary as the others when she wanted to be.

"Don't play coy Romeo, you're not an idiot like some people I know. You're my mate ok? We don't have to do anything about it yet, but for-" Wendy snapped, almost growling in frustration.

The hands cupping her face quickly followed by warm lips pressing against hers had her stopping as she felt her brain screech to a halt. Her first kiss! And-and-oh it felt wonderful! His taste swept through her, reminding her of warm campfires and lazy days in the sun, calm and soothing. Sighing in delight, Wendy leaned against him more, lifting her hands to lightly brace herself on his upper arms; nearly purring in satisfaction at the strength she found in the still developing muscles.

It wasn't until he pulled away that she noticed the whistles and cheers from the rest of the guild. Even as she flushed further (she swore she was going to be a permanent bright red at this point!), she couldn't take her eyes off of the grinning Romeo in front of her, or the way his eyes danced with joy as he looked at her. She shivered slightly as he traced his thumbs down her cheeks to trail lightly over her bottom lip.

"R-Romeo?" She asked softly. She could tell that he accepted what he was to her, but she needed at that moment to know what was going through his head.

"I'm glad. I had hoped that I might be yours when we first learned about dragons having mates, but I didn't want to rush you and I wasn't sure you felt the same way." He said softly. When he found his arms full of Wendy a moment later, he could only smile as he buried his face against her shoulder, enjoying the slight warmth of her pressed against him. Glancing up to those across the table, he found himself on the receiving end of proud grins, and heart filled eyes.

"She's officially verbally claimed you Romeo. So for everyones' safety, don't be looking to be with someone else, ever. You're no longer available for anyone else. Ever. We don't need to be cleaning up the bodies of those who try for you." Loke said with a pained laugh. He had been silent during this entire exchange, enjoying watching as new love bloomed between the three couples. Clapping a hand on Romeo's shoulder, he smirked as they all turned their attention to him.

"Now if only I could find someone to settle down with." He drawled, shoving aside the flash of soft wool, small curled horns, and pink hair across his minds eye.

"You Loke? A natural flirt and womanizer?" Gajeel scoffed only to be abled sharply in the ribs by Levy. She had seen the flash of longing in the lions eyes and in that moment she knew there was someone who had fully won his heart. She knew it wasn't Lucy, relationships between spirits and their masters were forbidden. So then who was it?

"I wouldn't look at anyone else. None of them compare to Wendy. Besides I don't want to think about what she would do to me, let alone anyone else. And that's not to mention what my dad would do." Romeo scoffed, though he paled slightly at the thought of his father. What was he going to tell him?! Before he could shoot a look across the guild hall for his dad, Wendy's words brought his attention back to her.

"Don't worry, your dad already knows. Natsu announced to everyone who our mates are earlier, and I went and spoke with him. Your dad is fine with it, and understands, though the full actually claiming is going to have to wait a while."

"It had better! You're both still far too young for that!" Macao stated, stepping up to the end of the table.

"Dad!"

"What? It's true. However, Romeo, I have nothing against this. Wendy's a wonderful girl, and I know you'll take good care of her, just as she'll take good care of you. And we'll figure out a way to keep others from getting too friendly as well." With that being said, Macao wandered off, whistling a happy tune with hands shoved into his pockets.

* * *

**Natsu**

'Dammit, I probably shouldn't have done that. Gajeel and Laxus are going to kill me for that stunt later.' Natsu thought to himself as he left the guild hall. He didn't go far though, he had just needed to get away from the smells and personal scents of the other slayers with their own mates nearby.

Plopping down on the steps that led the way to the doors of Fairy Tail, he braced his elbows on his knees, tilting his head back slightly to look up at the stars gleaming above him. It had been six months. Six long months since Lucy had been taken from him, and he was no closer to finding her then he was when he had first been let out of the infirmary a week and a half after she had been taken. As each day went by, he could feel his heart cracking more, his soul aching harder, and his mental state becoming less stable.

Seeing Romeo come up the stairs, he simply nodded to the boy before going back to his thoughts. Thankfully the boy took it for what it was and simply kept going, knowing his friend wanted to be alone.

The only reason Natsu hadn't completely lost it yet was because Loke was still around. Sure the damn cat disappeared for a few days at a time, causing Natsu to nearly go on a rampage each time, but every time he came back too. As long as Leo came back, then Lucy was still alive and there was still hope. There was still hope that she was alright and that they'd find her. And then he could claim her. Reaching into his pocket, he brought out the ring he had taken from his own hoard he had hidden away.

Even in the pale moonlight, the ring sparkled, reminding him a bit of his own fire. The large diamond surrounded by small rubies like a flower set into a specialized band of metal that would never break had a special place for him in his heart. Igneel had given this ring to him a long time ago, a little while after giving him the scarf, and had told Natsu to hold onto it, that he would know what to do with it one day. Not thinking much of it, Natsu had held onto it by hiding it away in his hoard. As soon as he had figured out that Lucy was his mate, he had realized what the ring was for and had retrieved it.

Now, six months later, he was still carrying it around in his pocket. He had planned on claiming Lucy after their last mission, but things had gone so terribly wrong. Gritting his teeth against the pain that threatened to tear him apart, he wrapped his hand around the ring and started doing what he had started as soon as he had retrieved the ring. Slowly, carefully, he fed some of his magic into the ring, strengthening it for when he found Lucy again.

Hearing an explosion of cheers erupt from the guild hall behind him, Natsu simply smirked. Looked like he had managed to at least do one thing right, even if it meant he was getting his ass handed to him later. Focusing on the voices beyond the door, he was able to confirm that yes, the other slayers had done what he had said to do and at least verbally claimed each of their mates.

He was happy for them, truly. He was jealous yes, that they had finally claimed their mates after so long of being idiots, but he was happy for them. He knew Lucy would be ecstatic for them, and could just imagine the bright smile she'd have for each of them. He didn't have the heart to go in and join in the celebration though, a celebration that was in dire need after six months of not having Lucy's bright smile filling the hall.

Hearing the door swing open, he didn't have to turn around as Loke's smell, reminding him so much of Lucy's since they smelled similar, in a way that made Natsu think of star gazing and dew dampened grass.

"What do you want Loke?" Natsu asked bluntly, continuing to look at the stars and feed his magic into the ring still held tightly in his hand. He didn't even bother to turn his head when he heard Loke settle onto the step next to him.

"I'll admit, after everything that has happened, I'm surprised by what you did. I would've thought you'd let them figure things out on their own." Loke answered quietly, mimicking Natsu's position with his elbows on his knees and hands linked together. The red aura that was causing him constant pain had taken over almost all of his torso over the last six months, and it continued to pulse in an almost sickening manner.

Natsu grunted in response. "It was what Lucy would've wanted. Before things happened the way they did, she had claimed to want to knock Gajeel and Laxus's heads together with how long they were taking. Even she could tell who their mates were, and that was BEFORE Levy had found the information about a dragon's mate. When she comes back, this'll give her something to look forward to."

"Natsu…" Loke paused, uncertain how to continue. Like him, Loke knew that as long as he could move between the two realms then Lucy was still alive. But the question was, for how much longer? He refused to give up hope, but the longer this pain went on, this pain that he knew was Lucy, he didn't know how much longer she actually had. He hated that while he was feeling her pain, he couldn't track it to her.

"Don't Loke, just don't. We'll find her, one way or another. You're still here, which means she is. So we have to find her. We have to bring her back." Natsu snarled, his hand tightening around the ring till the jewels pressed hard into his skin.

At the sudden gasp of pain, Natsu twisted to find Loke hunched over, face tight with pain as he gripped his chest.

"Loke?!"

"Sh-she's-" Loke gasped, feeling pain radiate arch through him, gritting his teeth to keep from screaming in agony.

"No! She-" Natsu snarled, his gaze darting down to find that the red aura was now spreading rapidly over Loke's skin. He didn't know what this meant, but he knew it wasn't good. Then he caught a familiar smell on the air. Spinning around further he saw her standing there between them and doors to the guild hall. He knew without looking that Loke had managed to turn his head enough to look over his own shoulder as well.

"Come Leo, we have things to take care of. Forced gate close, Leo." With that, Loke disappeared in a flash of sickly red.

A sudden pounding and shouting could be heard against the doors behind her, but she didn't flinch. From what he could hear and smell, Natsu knew that the other slayers had caught her smell as well.

Looking at her, he felt his heart lurch, and while he wanted to leap forward to pull her into his arms and bury his face into her hair, he knew something was wrong. This was Lucy, but not HIS Lucy. Her clothes had changed, becoming leather pants, ankle boots, what appeared to be a steel boned corset, and leather wrist cuffs, all in a silvery gray, similar to that of the stars above. Her hair was much longer now, but pulled back into a tight French braid, and her whip and keys decorated her hips as was the norm for her. Her clothes weren't the only things to change though. Her eyes, they-

"Salamander! What the hell is going on?! We can smell Lucy but we can't get past the doors!" Gajeel snarled through the doors, his now iron club arms pounding against the door.

Rather than answer, Natsu kept his eyes on her, moving his gaze over her entire form, fighting to keep the dragon within under control as it roared for him to take her, claim her, make her his. Lifting his gaze once more to her face, he fought the nausea rolling around in him as he met her hate filled gaze that was directed at him. He had seen many emotions directed at him from her in the past. Anger, sorrow, joy, laughter, annoyance, appreciation, so many different emotions that made him only want to bring those out more with his oddball antics.

Hatred though. Pure unchecked hatred had never been one of the things directed at him.

"Lucy…" Natsu whispered, taking a step forward. He couldn't help it. He was drawn to her just as he always would be, in this world or the next. A snarl escaped him though when her whip lashed out at him, hitting the ground in front of his feet to keep him from getting closer. He hadn't even seen her move! Gritting his teeth, he stepped closer, ready for the lash from her whip, this time catching it as it wrapped around his forearm and using it to get closer to her.

"Lucy! What the hell happened to you?" He asked, not letting go of her whip for even a moment. He knew he was going to have to be quick because he had a feeling that she wasn't going to be here much longer.

"You happened to me. You didn't save me. None of you did." She answered flatly.

"We couldn't find you!" Natsu snarled getting another couple of steps closer. "But obviously you're ok cause you're here! You're still our Lucy, MY Lucy and you're here!"

"No Natsu, I'm not. I'm not yours. I never was. Never will be. Because you couldn't protect me. And because of you I've died." With that, she disappeared, even as Natsu staggered back, feeling a great physical pain with each word she said. Still gripping the whip that she had dropped in order to flash away, Natsu fell to his knees, gasping as he felt what was left of his heart and mind fracture.

Never mind the fact that she was still technically alive, he knew that this was the pain that came with the death of an unclaimed mate.


	4. Chapter 4 The Unseen Path

A/N: I do not own Fairy Tail!

sidjr100: as per your request, chapter three was not the end lol. and we shall see where things go for Lucy.

fanficlove2014: yes, six months is a long time, and don't worry I won't leave you in suspense for too long about Natsu's mental state

apriii: *does a happy dance* I'm glad I was able to catch your interest enough to want to read it.

Now on with the story! Please remember to read and review! Reviews are what help keep me going!

Chapter 4 - The Unseen Path

It had been a week. Another long, tension filled week. The guild was on edge even more than it had been when Lucy had first disappeared. Now they were dealing with the fact that despite Lucy technically being alive, she considered herself dead, and Natsu was now in the infirmary, strapped to a bed while in a coma.

Losing Lucy had been bad enough…but to lose Natsu too? That was a thought no one wanted to consider.

* * *

 _*One Week Before*_

 _BOOM_

The doors to the guildhall exploded inward, sending the two dragon slayers pounding on it from the inside, flying. No one else knew what the hell had just happened; they only knew that one moment the dragon slayers and their mates had been sitting around a table talking, Loke had left a few moments before, and in the next moment, Laxus and Gajeel had raced for the door trying to pull it open. When that hadn't worked they had started pounding on it, calling out to Natsu.

They watched in fascination as Gajeel started pounding at the doors with the iron clubs that were his hands, to see that even that wasn't working.

"Salamander! What the hell is going on?! We can smell Lucy but we can't get past the doors!" Gajeel snarled, shifting his arm into that of an axe and taking a swing at the door to no effect.

After a few more moments of ramming the door, a sudden wave of heat followed by an explosion had Laxus and Gajeel flying across the guild to slam into the far wall. Wincing at the aches they knew they were going to feel very soon, they slumped to the ground from the dents in the wall.

"LAXUS!"

"GAJEEL!"

Running footsteps reached their ears as they lifted their heads to stare dazedly out the door at the raging inferno that was on the guildhalls front steps. Cool soft touches were felt as their mates knelt down next to them, and any other time they would've have fully enjoyed the sensation, but right now wasn't that time. Another explosion rocked the air, causing the two men to lunge for their mates; knocking the ladies to the ground and covering them to take the brunt of the wave of heat that hit them like a tidal wave.

"What the fuck just happened?!" Laxus cursed, trying to look over his shoulder towards the doors. He was just barely able to see the hunched over form huddled within the flames. He felt his heart stop as he realized what this had to mean.

"Gajeel come on! We've gotta get to Natsu!" Not bothering to wait for the iron dragon slayer, Laxus bolted for the door. Running footsteps behind him told him that Gajeel had heard him though and wasn't questioning what Laxus was talking about. Without pausing, the two dragon slayers dove into the inferno that was Natsus' power blazing out of control.

A few moments later it was realized that they weren't going to be able to get to him by conventional means; the heat of the fire, and the intensity of the magic pulsing off of Natsu was too much even for them. Shouting in pain, Laxus couldn't keep himself from being thrown back as another wave of heat knocked him back into the hall. Gajeel managed to stay put only by shifting into his iron skin and digging his feet into the stonework under him. Growling out another curse, he did the only thing he could think of in that moment.

He clubbed Natsu over the head with a hand shifted into the shape of a very heavy anvil. In the split second it took for him to shift his hand into said anvil and smack Natsu on the head with it, the metal turned a glowing cherry red. Gajeel watched in a type of detached interest as he saw this happening and looked down to see that his clothes had melted away as well.

If there was something to be said about Natsu's fire, it was damn effective. Gajeel was sure to have a nice deep tan at minimum by the time he escaped the flames. It took a moment after Natsu was clubbed over the head for the flames to dissipate, but once they did Gajeel sunk to his knees gasping at the cool breeze that washed over him. The sudden change in temperature had him shivering slightly while being glad that he didn't care if he was seen naked.

Hearing soft footsteps come up behind him, Gajeel glanced over his shoulder at his mate who had his trench coat in her hands. A moment later it was draped around him to give him some modesty and he found himself nearly purring again at the feeling of her hands brushing through his hair. Staggering to his feet he tucked his coat around him and looked down at the now unconscious Natsu. He knew what had happened, and in all honesty, as a friend and nakama, he felt his heart aching for the flame haired idiot.

"Gajeel? What was that?" Levy asked softly as she stepped up beside him, knowing that he could hear her. After all, it was well known that all of the slayers had senses that would put a blood hounds to shame.

"Natus just shattered. Something happened to Lucy that broke him, and that was him losing all control over everything." Gajeel answered softly, wrapping an arm around Levy to pull her closer to him. He didn't have to look down to know that the choking sound he heard was Levy trying not to cry. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw that Laxus was once more standing, leaning on Mira.

"Laxus, we need to get Natsu into the infirmary, strapped down, and runes placed around him to contain his magic. It's the only way we're going to be able to control him until he wakes up."

The rest of the guild watched in confusion and awe as Laxus nodded, not even arguing as he stepped forward once more. Scooping up the now unconscious form of the fire dragon slayer, he headed for the infirmary. It could be seen in his grip and the glances that he kept giving the slayer in his arms, that he was worried. Not a word was said in the guildhall as they headed for the infirmary, their mates, Gray, Erza, and the master following close behind.

* * *

*Present Time*

He was in that void again. That cursed void somewhere in the back of his mind. Mavis how he hated that place. Always made him feel useless and helpless. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to be with her.

 _Lucy._

Images started flowing through the void, easing past like a slow moving river. From his mind he watched each image with something akin to reverence. He had always known she'd be it for him. It may have taken a while, but from the first time he had met her, on some level he had known.

 _Lucy._

Her smile, so familiar to him, danced across his nerves in a caress. Her laughter soothed him even as it made him smile. Her smell of vanilla and strawberries beckoned him closer. Her determination, her loyalty, everything about her called to him. As memory after memory danced around him, he fell to his knees.

 _Lucy._

She wasn't here. She was gone. If she was here he wouldn't be trapped in his mind right now. He'd be by her side, protecting her, loving her, claiming her.

 _Lucy._

He had failed. He hadn't protected his mate even though he had always promised to do so. He didn't want to be here without her. Nothing mattered to him if she wasn't there with him.

 _Lucy._

He just wanted her. He wanted to love her, claim her, grow and have a family with her.

 _Lucy._

He wanted to live for her.

 _Natsu._

* * *

"Dammit Natsu! Wake up!" Laxus snarled, throwing himself across the bedridden slayers legs as he started thrashing again. Wendy was close by, her hands glowing as she held them over Natsu's body.

"It's no good! He's still stuck in his mind!" Wendy cried as she watched one of her dearest friends thrash and snarl.

Watching from his place against the wall, Gajeel watched the actions before him with narrowed eyes. He didn't know what it was but there was something there with those in the room. His gaze flicked from Erza who was pinning down one arm, to Gray who was pinning down the other arm. Typically the weight of those three alone should've kept Natsu from being able to move, but this time it only made him struggle harder, trying to break free.

He was so focused on the struggling bodies before him that it took him a moment to realize the smell of vanilla and strawberries was teasing his senses, causing him to tense as his gaze shot around the room.

 _Gajeel._

The sound of his name whispering through his head had him gulping, hoping that Natsu's craziness wasn't rubbing off on him.

 _Gajeel._

Bunny girl? He thought, mind racing. He didn't know what was going on, just that it was freaking him out. He didn't question it though, and only hoped he'd be able to get some answers.

 _Gajeel I need your help._

 _Where are you?_

 _I'm not here nor there._

 _What the fuck does that mean?_

 _I'm not alive, nor am I dead, but we don't have time for this._

 _Tell me where you are so we can come get you!_

 _I can't because I don't even know where I am._

 _What happened?_

 _They took my body, they forced me out, but I'm close by. Natsu did something._

 _What do you mean?_

 _I saw my body come back to wherever I am and Natsu left something on it._

 _Dammit Bunny girl get to the point! How are you talking to me?_

 _I don't know that either I just am. Gajeel I need you to make a bracelet or a ring for Natsu, as you do I'll feed some of myself as I am now, into it so he can find me._

 _How the hell are you going to do that?!_

 _I don't know! I just do! Now please do it! We're running out of time!_

 _It's too late, he thinks you're dead and he's going berserk!_

 _Dammit Gajeel for once stop arguing and do it!_

Gulping at the snarl echoing through his head, Gajeel closed his fight tightly, drawing on his magic to form into a ring that he knew would fit on one of Natsu's fingers. As he did this he felt formed. This went on for a few minutes and by the time he was done, Natsu was once more laying still. The others had sat back, catching their breath while eyeing Natsu warily.

 _Was that your doing Bunny girl?_ Gajeel asked, opening his hand to stare at the simple band that was surprisingly etched with stars.

 _Yes to both the ring and getting Natsu to calm down. I can't hold on much longer Gajeel, place the ring on his middle right finger, and when he wakes tell him to remember what he gave me. Thank you Gajeel._

With that last whisper through his head, his senses cleared and he knew that whatever part of Lucy that had been there was gone.

 _I sure as hell hope you know what you're doing Bunny girl._ Gajeel thought, looking closer at the ring he had made. Stars had been etched into the surface of the dark metal, and appeared to be faintly glowing. Letting out a huff of breath, he stepped up to Natsu's side and before anyone could say anything, slid the ring into place.

"What the hell are you doing bolt head?" Laxus asked, giving him a confused look.

"You'll see soon enough. Hopefully." Gajeel answered before bending down to get close to the salamanders' ear to whisper, "Time to wake up hot head, you need to remember what ya gave Bunny girl." Straightening up, he stepped back to glance down at the ring, hoping to see something.

* * *

" _-what ya gave Bunny girl-"_ echoed through the Natsu's mind, making him twitch. That had been bolt for brains voice. What was that idiot doing in his mind?

Shaking his head, Natsu continued taking slow breaths. He knew now that in some fashion Lucy was still alive. If she was still alive, that meant he had to find her. Find her and bring her back home where she belonged.

Turning his head, he looed around. While he couldn't see anything, he knew something was different. There was something there just beyond his reach trying to call to him. Looking down he noticed that there was now a ring on his hand. Lifting it, he peered at it closely, getting a whiff of Gajeel and - _LUCY?!_

Taking another deep calming breath, Natsu looked at the ring closer, seeing the etched stars and the glow they were giving off. Biting his lip, continued to stare at his hand for a long moment, trying to figure out why he now had a ring on his hand.

The seconds ticked by…

RING!

If it hadn't been so dark in this corner of his mind, Natsu would swear that a lightbulb appeared above his head.

Gajeels' words echoed back to him: _"what ya gave Bunny girl"_

Natsu had given Lucy a ring infused with his magic. Letting out a triumphant roar, Natsu clenched his first, bringing forth the image of what the ring he had given her looked like.

As the ring on his own hand began to glow brighter, he smiled.

He was out of there!


	5. Chapter 5 Just Beyond The Veil

*I do not own Fairy Tail. However since I'm doing this just for fun and not actually making any money off of this, I can go off on my own little adventures with the characters of Fairy Tail.*

A/N: Thank you to those reading and reviewing, and those who have favorited and are following the story line! Please continue to read and review as that is what helps keep me going to bring more adventure to your screen!

Chapter 5 Just Beyond The Veil

*Down in the Guildhall*

'Twelve hours. In fifteen minutes it will have been twelve hours since I gave flame for brains that damn ring. He should've been awake by now!' Gajeel mentally cursed, tapping his fingers against the table in agitation. He had stayed by Natsu for a bit after that little stunt, ignoring the odd looks he'd been given by Laxus, Wendy, Erza, and Gray. Dammit he was a happily straight, male, dragon slayer! He should NOT have been giving the annoying pipsqueak he begrudgingly considered a brother, a ring!

Huffing out an irritated breath, his eyes shifted to the blue haired fairy that sat across from him. As per usual her nose was buried in a book, learning something new or touching up on something that she had already found. Tilting his head ever so slightly, he couldn't help but smirk as he read the title along the spine. "Dragons, Dragon Slayers, and their Mates". Chuckling silently, Gajeel eyed Levy's fingers to get an idea as to how big they were, and with a smile reached into his pocket for the small blue gem he had found.

Closing his hand around the gem in a loose fist, he focused his magic in his hand, an image clear in his mind of what he was looking for. He knew he was going to claim her eventually but he wanted to make sure she got what she wanted as well. And that was, eventually, going to need to include a ring of her own. So with another impatient sigh, Gajeel continued focusing on his magic even as he watched Levy, waiting for Natsu to finally wake up.

The sudden roar from down the hall had everyone in the main hall jumping before Laxus and Gajeel scrambled to their feet, darting away to calm down a certain hot head. They didn't notice a certain worried blue cat who followed close behind them.

* * *

*In the Guildhall Infirmary*

He was in the infirmary. He knew that much from the feel of the bed under him and the smells around him. He even recognized the feel of the ring on his hand that had managed to make itself known even in his subconscious thoughts.

What he didn't understand was why the hell he couldn't move!

Low lighting pierced his eyes as they flew open, and Natsu looked around to confirm that yes he was in the guilds infirmary. Taking deeper breathes he was able to pick up the smell of others in the main guild hall, including those of bolts for brains and sparky. Fisting his hands, he tried to get up again, only to find that there was actually something holding him down.

Of course, being a dragon, and considering his still shaky mental state, being held down was not a good thing….at all.

The roar that escaped him had the rafters in the main hall shaking.

"Dammit Natsu! Calm down!" Laxus roared as he barreled into the infirmary, the door swinging open to crash against the wall. Gajeel was right on his heels thankfully so when the door bounced back it just barely missed smacking him in the face. Happy on the other hand….a yelp was heard as he was knocked back into the hallway beyond the door.

Any other time Gajeel might've tried to check on the blue cat, but right now he was more worried about the thrashing dragon slayer in front of him.

"LAXUS! YOU BETTER GET THESE FUCKING THINGS OFF IN THE NEXT TWO SECONDS OR SO HELP ME-"

"OKOK HOLD ON!" Laxus hollered racing over to rip away the magic sealing straps that were keeping him down. It wasn't surprising that Laxus took a few quick steps back when he was done to dodge the flame engulfed fist that flew at his head a bare moment later.

"WHY THE HELL WAS I STRAPPED DOWN?!"

An iron club came down and smacked Natsu over the head, dazing him for a moment, and the other two dragon slayers reveled in the silence while they could.

"Before you go and start screaming like a little girl again, you were strapped down because a week ago you lost control of your power and yourself. We had to knock you out fast before you demolished the hall, and possibly Magnolia. Then we had to strap you down because you kept thrashing and bursting into flame. We knew you couldn't control it, and the only way to keep everyone safe was to strap you down. Ok?" Laxus quickly explained, plopping down into one of the chairs next to the bed.

"And you've been out of it for a week. Happy got back a few days ago with the other exceeds and has been worried sick about you because you wouldn't wake up." Gajeel continued gruffly. He stood at the end of the bed, arms crossed over his chest. "We've been waiting for ya ta wake up to tell us what happened."

Before Natsu could say anything, the door to the infirmary swung open showing a concerned Wendy, Erza and Gray with Happy on Grays shoulder, and Lily and Charle walking ahead of them.

"Is everything ok? We heard the yelling downstairs." Erza asked as she stepped into the room, her sharp gaze taking in everything of the room at once. "I see you're finally awake Natsu, are you able to tell us what happened?"

"NATSUUUU!" Happy cried, leaping off of Gray's shoulder to fly over and tackle his best friend.

Smiling softly, Natsu wrapped his arms around the small blue exceed, patting his head. "Hey little buddy, you doing ok?"

"Y-yea I'm fine, but we've all been so worried! First we lost Lushie and then we almost lost you!" Happy blubbered, burying his face in Natsu's scarf.

"Nah, you didn't lose me. I'm not that easy to get rid of."

"Tom cat will you shush for a moment so Natsu can tell us what happened?" Charle huffed, crossing her arms. Wordlessly Wendy walked over to hold her glowing hands over him, checking for any possible injuries or other complications. Giving her a smile in thanks, Natsu turned back to the others.

"Honestly? I don't know. I remember telling you three to claim your mates, and then I walked outside. I sat on the steps for a bit, Loke came out to join me and then-" Natsu paused as pain lanced through him sharply at the memory, his inner dragon roaring in denial and anger. He didn't notice Wendy flinching back as the heat around him became more than she could handle and she stepped back quickly.

"Lucy." Natsu gasped, shoving Happy away from him as he doubled over in pain, his left hand clutching at his chest while the other fisted around the blankets in his lap. Gritting his teeth, he managed to explain through the pain lacing his voice; "Lucy was there. She came back. But it wasn't her. She took Loke. And then she said she was dead." Natsu snarled, body tensing as the pain exploded out from him. The others quickly dove for cover, just barely being missed by the wave of heat that swept over them, singing their clothing. After a few seconds they got back to their feet cautiously, struck dumb at the sight before them.

Before Natsu had looked to be in massive amounts of pain, and losing control of her powers once more. Now though….

Now he was calm and breathing deeply, looking at each of them apologetically. And he had an odd golden glow around him.

"I'm sorry for that. I'm still struggling with what the physical Lucy told me, and what the spirit Lucy told me." Natsu said with a shrug.

The silence that fell over the room was deafening as everyone but Gajeel looked at him like he really had gone insane. Hopping up on the bed, Lily walked up to Natsu to place a paw against a cheek to test for fever.

"Well, he doesn't feel hotter or colder than he normally does. What do you mean spirit Lucy Natsu?" Lily asked, stepping back to sit on the bed next to Happy who was watching and still in shock. When Natsu simply smiled further, they could only stare.

"She's not dead. Not in the way we thought. She came to me, when I was sleeping. She came and explained that Phantom's Fist had somehow shoved most of her conscious, her soul out of her body to put someone or something else in. She's still here, and she's still alive." Natsu explained, glancing down to run a finger over the engraved stars on the ring he swore to never take off again. "By the way, thanks for helping with this bolts for brains." Natsu smirked, throwing him a smug look.

Giving him a look in return, Gajeel simply shrugged. "I don't know how she managed to reach out to me, but she did and she demanded I make you that. I'm assuming that this is what's currently got you glowing like a matchstick?"

"Yea, it's acting as a lead or whatever you wanna call it to where she is as well. All while also helping keep my magic under control."

"Wait wait wait what the hell is going on?" Gray finally broke in, realizing that a good many people in that room were still in the dark as to what had happened.

Letting out a sigh, Natsu turned to him. "Lucy came to me apparently a week ago, claiming she was dead. I lost it because when a dragon loses their mate, they lose control of their magic and they go berserk. Apparently the tin can over here –"

"Hey!"

"-managed to knock me out and get me in here and strapped down. While I was passed out Lucy came to me, in my head, my dreams or whatever you wanna call it, to let me know she's alive in the spiritual sense. She doesn't know where she is, but knows that her body was basically stolen from her. I'm guessing at some point she somehow managed to get in touch with metal head and laced this with her magic before he gave it to me. That sounding about right so far?" Natsu trailed off, glancing at Gajeel. The grunt given was taken as a confirmation.

"Ok, if this is all true, then where the hell is she?" Laxus asked.

Rubbing a hand over the back of his head, Natsu took on a bit of a confused, sheepish look. "Ah..do you mean her physical or spiritual self?" He asked.

"How about both. We need answers Natsu." Erza stated sternly, glaring at her fellow teammate.

"Well, I won't know where her physical self is until I start following the lead that I planted on her. That's the easy one. Her spiritual self…well…that's going to be a bit harder." Natsu answered.

"What do you mean?" Wendy asked, finally stepping forward after everything she had heard.

"Her spiritual self is going to be harder to find and keep in touch with because she's…well…" Natsu sighed, once again running a finger over the ring now on his hand before looking up at the others.

"She's where we can't reach her right now. At least not consciously." He paused again, hesitant to tell them where she was for fear of how they'd all react.

"Where is she Natsu? Please we just want to bring Lucy home." Happy stated, looking up at his best friend with teary eyes.

Letting out a sigh, and lowering his gaze to the hands he now had fisted in his lap, he closed his eyes against the slight pain he knew he was going to feel.

"She's just beyond the veil."


	6. Chapter 6 Celestial Mate

*I do NOT own Fairy Tail! Never have, never will, though oh how fun it would be!*

A/N: To everyone, following, favoriting, reading, and reviewing, thank you! I do hope you continue to do so. Please remember to review! It keeps me going to bring you some new stuff!

Chapter 6 Celestial Mate

He'd only been out of bed for an hour now, after having gone over everything that he had learned from Lucy when she'd visited him in his head. He didn't know how she was able to do it, but she had, and now he had a ring that helped keep his shattered mental state together. While his dragon sure as hell didn't like the smell of tin head and Lucy together on something, he was also grateful for it.

He was also grateful for his guild mates. Somehow they had managed to stop him before he had destroyed the guild hall before moving onto the city. It irked him that he now had a debt to the two strong dragon slayers that he would never be able to repay, but he could learn to live with it if it meant his nakama were safe. Glancing down at the ring on his right hand, he adjusted that last thought. If it meant MOST of his nakama were safe. The most important one of all however, wasn't. And she was still beyond his grasp.

What he wouldn't give for his father to be with him. To help him right then. Tell him what he needed to do to find his mate. Igneel had left, seven years before, without a good-bye or anything. Although he supposed the note that had been left behind was better than nothing.

 _'I don't know when, but when you need me the most, I'll come back. Don't come looking for me.'_

Oh how he had wanted to race off to find him, but he knew he couldn't. It had been his fathers' wish, so he respected it. It didn't stop Natsu from keeping an ear out for him whenever he went on jobs though.

Letting out a tired sigh, Natsu finished off what he could of his food, his appetite not being anything like what it used to be, before standing up to leave. As he passed by other tables he ignored them, until he came up on the table with the dragon slayers and their mates. He felt his lips curl up ever so slightly at seeing how happy they were before taking a deeper sniff to find that full mating hadn't happened for any of them yet. Shaking his head, his gaze to the floor, he kept going past them, not hearing them call out to him, before he stepped out into the cool air beyond the guilds doors. He only absently noticed that night had already fallen, cloaking the world in shadows that taunted him.

He planned on getting an early start tomorrow, catching the first train that he could to start trying to follow wherever the ring he now wore was trying to lead him to, and find where Lucy was being held.

It wasn't long before he was walking out past the city limits, disappearing into the trees that stood between his small cottage and Magnolia. Being a destructive wizard like he was, the people of Magnolia were glad that he lived a bit further out. Also, while he was certainly social, and liked the noise of the guild, he enjoyed his quiet as well.

A little while later he stepped into the large clearing that held his small cottage, letting his eyes roam over the changes that had been made to it for whenever he had claimed Lucy as his. Before, his cottage had been fairly simple with a large main room that was both living and dining room, with a small kitchen off to the side, and a bathroom at the end of a small hall, next to the one and only regular size bedroom.

Now there was an extension off of where the kitchen was, a larger bedroom with a personal bath. He had already moved the previous rooms furniture into the new room so that there would be a room for Lucy to have an office to work in. It had taken some time, but with the help of a few others in the guild who were sworn to secrecy, the building and moving of furniture hadn't been overly difficult. He loved the way his home was set up overall, but of course there was that one person that was missing that made it all the more important.

His mate.

Lucy.

Letting out another snarl of frustration, Natsu shook his head quickly, trying to dispel the darker thoughts trying to take root in his head. Rather than going inside his home, he followed the branched off path around it to the pond that wasn't too far behind it before plopping down at the edge of the gently moving water. Letting his head tilt back, he tried to take in the beauty of the stars above that reminded him so much of the fire that danced in Lucy's eyes.

Like the stars, she was so close and yet so far away at the same time, causing an ache in his heart that he tried to ignore. Rolling his head from side to side, he brought his head back down to stare out over the pond, seeing the moon and stars reflected there as well. Over the last number of months, everything had been reminding him more and more of Lucy. And this time was no different.

He knew he was walking the jagged edge of a very deep cliff between the control he had over his sanity and the fall into the insanity of not having his mate with him. If it hadn't been for Lucy…..he stopped the thought there with a shudder. Taking deep breaths in hopes of keeping himself on the safer side of that edge, he looked down into the water before him, lost in thought.

Some time had passed, crickets and bugs softly humming from their places in the trees and grass, adding to the quiet hum of the forest around them. It wasn't until he noticed that his legs were going numb from how long he had been sitting for that Natsu was pulled out of his thoughts, gazing once more into the reflection in the water. It took him a moment to realize what he was seeing. A face as familiar as his own with a sad smile stared back at him, hair glowing like a silver flame.

 _Lucy!_

Gasping he lurched forward, reaching out a hand to touch the surface of the water, as if he'd be able to touch her face instead. She was smiling sadly at him, mouth lifted in a crooked smile, her lips moving as if she was trying to say something. That was when he heard it, a barely there whisper through the trees, a caress along the grass, only to tease his ears.

 _Natsu._

In his haste to look around to find Lucy, he didn't realize he had touched the water until he was being sucked in. Then all he knew was a cool oblivion.

* * *

 _There was heat. And peace. A calmness that was a balm to the nerves that had been on edge under his skin for months._

 _And the smell….it was all around him, making him want to curl up and purr. So soothing…._

 _He didn't know where he was again, but this time he didn't care….he just wanted to stay there as long as the smell and the peace stayed. It felt like home, like family, like he had finally found where he belonged. There was no hatred, no sorrow, just peace and comfort and acceptance._

' _Natsu…'_

 _Lifting his head, he looked around with a small smile. He knew that voice. The way it danced across his skin like warm flames. Just hearing the voice say his name made him want to burrow deeper into the place he was so he could stay happy forever._

' _Natsu….come on….open your eyes….'_

 _Growling slightly, he shook his head petulantly, still reveling in the peace around him._

' _Am I going to have to kick you to get your attention?'_

 _With that said, Natsu eased his eyes open before blinking in shock. For a moment he felt that he might've been able to take the grass being blue and the sky being green better than what he was seeing before him now._

 _There were what looked like fireballs all around them in a range of colors. From the purest white, to the deepest red, and the coolest blue, ever shade was there. Turning his head a bit further, he saw Lucy standing not too far from him with a bit of a sheepish smile on her face._

' _L-Lucy? Where are we?'_

 _Shrugging, she looked around. 'I'm not entirely sure, but I think you had it right when you told the others that I'm just beyond the veil. I think that this might be where we are.'_

' _What are all of these fireball things?' Nastu asked, stepping closer to one to further inspect it. He could feel a heat coming off of it in waves, similar to his own, but still different._

' _You really don't know?' Lucy asked, stepping closer to rest a hand on his shoulder, not noticing the shiver that ran through him or the look that he was sending her from the corner of his eye._

' _If I knew, I wouldn't be asking. Can I eat them?' Natsu asked, vaguely aware that while he wasn't dying of hunger per say, he could handle eating something to keep up his strength._

' _No you can't eat them you idiot! They're stars!' Lucy scolded, smacking him against the back of his head._

' _Well how was I supposed to know that?!' Natsu huffed, straightening to turn face Lucy, knowing that if there was ever going to be a time to tell her, now would be as good as ever. He watched avidly as the glowing orb that was apparently a star started pulsing and vibrating as Lucy cupped it in her hands._

' _I suppose you're right. Not many would. What are you doing here Natsu? Are you asleep?' Lucy asked, still staring intently at the orb._

' _I honestly don't know. I was heading home for the night to get some rest before I head out in the morning, but I stopped by the pond, and the next thing I know, I'm here.' Letting out a sigh, Natsu stepped closer to her to wrap his arms around her wait, resting his chin on her shoulder, and chuckling at feeling her tense._

' _N-Natsu? What are you doing? And I'm guessing you're heading out to try and find my body?' Lucy asked, fighting back the wave of heat that washed through her at his touch on her patch of bare skin around her waist._

' _Yea, I'm hoping to find you soon so I can bring you home. We have some things to take care of.' Natsu answered, shifting to nuzzle his face into the side of her neck._

' _L-Like what?' Lucy gasped, feeling her eyes fall shut even as she was eased into a full standing position, her front to Natsu's back, his breath on her neck making shivers run over her skin._

 _Pausing for a moment to try and find a way to tell her what he had wanted to tell her so long ago, Natsu brushed his lips against her skin, feeling his blood start to heat and himself start to harden at the taste of her on his lips._

' _Ummm N-Natsu…' Lucy moans out, her hands lifting to rest over the ones on her stomach, feeling small sparks of fire starting to dance across her nerves._

' _Yes Lucy?' Natsu murmurs into her ear, lightly nibbling along the curved skin._

' _Wh-what are you doing to me?'_

' _I'm claiming you Lucy. You're mine. Only ever mine.' Natsu answered, his lips trailing back down her neck before setting his teeth against her shoulder in a light bite. Feeling her tense in surprise and start to pull away from him, he tightened his holder around her, growling low in his throat even as the vibrations moved across her skin, further stimulating her._

' _Wait what? What are you talking about Natsu?!' Lucy yelped, trying to pull away so she could turn and face him._

 _Letting out a frustrated sigh, he finally loosened his hold, inwardly glad that rather than moving away she simply turned to face him, keeping her arms around him. Swallowing against the lump of nerves taking place in his throat, he leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers, his eyes meeting hers so she would know that he wasn't lying._

' _I can't keep this from you any more Lucy. I know that we haven't found your physical self yet, but you as a spirit were able to reach out to me. You must know that that means something.' Gritting his teeth as the memories of Lucy being taken from him flashed through his mind, he took deep breaths to keep his anger under control._

' _Before all of this started I was going to talk to you about something very important to dragon slayers after that last mission we were on before you were taken from us. From me. After you were taken, I was going to wait until we got you back, but knowing I can at least see you this way, I need to tell you. And I can only hope that when we get you back where you belong both in body and back at Fairy Tail, that you'll remember me telling you this. If not, then I'll do it all over again. I won't care how many times I have to tell you as long as you know the truth.'_

' _And what would the truth be?' Lucy asked, uncertainty filling her eyes as she stared into the gaze of her favorite numb skull dragon slayer._

' _Every dragon or dragon slayer has a mate Lucy. A mate is someone that a dragon protects with their own lives, strengthens, supports, and can only be with that dragon for their entire lives. Levy is Gajeels mate; Mira is Laxuss; and Romeo is Wendys even though she can't claim him quite yet since she's not yet of age.'_

' _But…who's your mate then Natsu?' Lucy asked, her voice a bare whisper, afraid to hope, afraid to even fathom that it was her since there were so many others that were sure to be a better match for him._

' _Oh I'm sure you already know Lucy. But since you obviously need it spelled out for ya….' Smirking slightly, Natsu didn't give her much time to think before catching her lips with his, slipping in to tease her tongue with his when she gasped in surprise. Hearing the low moan that escaped her, and feeling her hands clutch at his upper arms, he deepened the kiss, drawing her tighter against him so they were pressed together from thigh to chest._

 _(His taste…his heat…why the hell did I wait so long to act on my feelings for him? This is heaven!) Lucy moaned, running her hands over his shoulders to lace them into his hair, the pink -salmon- colored locks feeling like silk against her skin._

 _(She tastes so much better than I could've ever imagined. I don't want to stop! I don't need to breathe right? As long as I have Lucy? She's all I need to breathe and survive.) Natsu scolded himself, feeling his heartbeat start to race even as the taste of her mouth and her lips against his had his dragon roaring to claim her._

 _Moments later they pulled apart, the need for air finally overriding everything else. Resting their heads against each other, they panted, trying to regain the precious air they needed. Drawing back slightly from each other, Lucy kept her head down, uncertain as to what to do or where to go from there._

 _Feeling a soft hand under her chin, urging her to raise her head, she found herself once more falling into the dark gaze of the dragon that she had loved for so long but had never admitted it, not even to herself until she found herself being torn from her own body._

' _Natsu?'_

' _You're my mate Lucy. You always have been. It just took me a while to realize it. Now that you know, you should also know that I want, no, I need to claim you. If you'll allow it that is. The mate still has the power to reject the dragon or dragon slayer.'_

' _W-what would happen if you were rejected?' Lucy asked, fighting the urge to sooth him right away at the grimace of pain she saw flash across his face._

' _Let's just say death would be much preferred, however, I would still stick by you as a friend, protecting you whenever I could, drawing happiness from the fact that you were happy when you found someone you preferred.'_

 _Giving this a moment to think over, she knew that there had to be more to this whole dragon slayer thing and she wasn't sure Natsu knew everything that was needed simply because of him being an airhead. But he was her airhead and she was fine with it. Letting a small smile spread across her face, she lifted a hand to cup his cheek, ignoring how her heart melted when he nuzzled into it._

' _How do you claim your mate?' Lucy asked._

 _Blushing ever so slightly, Natsu cleared his throat before explaining. 'Claiming a mate involves making love, but it can get to be a bit…well…intense. It also requires a bite that will help mark you to show others who you belong to. The marks can help the mates find, heal, communicate, and protect each other.'_

' _If it requires being intimate….that means we're going to have to wait till you find me won't it?' Lucy mumbled, trying to fight the blush that flooded over her face._

' _We could….unless you wouldn't mind being bonded and claimed a bit more in depth….'_

' _What does that mean?'_

 _Taking a deep breath, and giving her a quick kiss, Natsu met her gaze, letting all of the feelings he had for her show clearly._

' _Let me claim you here Lucy. In this world that is as much yours as you are mine. Let me claim you in a soul bond.'_


	7. Chapter 7 The Soul Bond

A/N: First off, giving a big shout out to _**GemNika**_ for helping put parts of this chapter together! She was able to give a point of view and details that I originally hadn't thought of, so thank you so much for your help!

Second - Warning! Warning! Lemon ahead! Rated M! This chapter is Rated M for mature content!

Third - Please remember to _**READ AND REVIEW**_! Reviews are what help keeps us writers going!

Now onto the story, please enjoy!

Chapter 7 The Soul Bond

* * *

' _If it requires being intimate….that means we're going to have to wait till you find me won't it?' Lucy mumbled, trying to fight the blush that flooded over her face._

' _We could….unless you wouldn't mind being bonded and claimed a bit more in depth….'_

' _What does that mean?'_

 _Taking a deep breath, and giving her a quick kiss, Natsu met her gaze, letting all of the feelings he had for her show clearly._

' _Let me claim you here Lucy. In this world that is as much yours as you are mine. Let me claim you in a soul bond.'_

* * *

 _Lucy blinked a bit in surprise as she took a step back from Natsu, glad for the fact that he let her go, even as a shiver raced over her spiritual form from the low sound of his voice._

 _'_ _A-A what?' Lucy stammered, forcing herself to take deep breaths against the sudden pounding of her heart against her ribcage at the intense look she was being given. In all the years she had known the dragon slayer, never had she thought he'd return her feelings, let alone look at her the way he was at that moment. The gentle smile that he gave her paired with the darkened eyes, only caused her heart to pound harder and her face to flush hotter._

 _'_ _A soul bond.' Natsu answered simply with a slight shrug._

 _'_ _What is a soul bond?'_

 _'_ _It's a deeper bond than that of a magical mating bond.'_

 _'…'_ _Lucy waited, hoping for a bit of clarification. When nothing more was forth coming, she huffed out a breath and shook her head._

 _'_ _Sorry Natsu, I'm going to need a bit more than that….not a dragon slayer remember? And I sure as hell can't read your mind….we may be sharing time together here in whatever world this is, but I still cannot read your mind.' Lucy prodded, continuing to hold his gaze, and praying that he couldn't feel how her body was trembling. When he simply chuckled at her before drawing her close once more with his arms around her waist, she simply glowered at him._

 _'_ _Sorry Lucy, I'm so used to you knowing everything….' Natsu said with a slight smirk, a mischievous gleam in his eyes._

 _'_ _Oh very funny flame brain, now tell me what I want to know, and tell me the differences between what you mentioned.'_

 _Giving one last chuckle, he leaned down to press a soft kiss against her lips, his nose nuzzling against her cheek. Letting out one more sigh, he leaned back again, keeping his eyes on hers._

 _'_ _A magical mating bond tends to deal with just the physical aspects of our bodies. The basic principles are the same as a soul bond. Physically we make love to each other, and then at the height of our climax, which we have to reach together for it to be the strongest, we bite each other, infusing only some of our magic with each other, to mark and be claimed as mates. These marks aren't as in depth or as powerful as a soul bond claiming. After the bite has been made, the mark appears, and it allows us to be able to find each other as needed, protects us from our elements, so you'd be immune to fire, and I'd be immune to any attacks from your spirits, and lets us know when we're in trouble or in physical pain.'_

 _'_ _Ok….I think I'm following that….what about the soul bond then?'_

 _'_ _A soul bond is a great deal more powerful, and in turn makes those involved in it more powerful as well.' Natsu paused for a moment, trying to think of how to explain it without possibly scaring her off. Finally, he figured that being blunt and straight to the point would probably be best. 'A soul bond combines and strengthens both of the mages powers. All of it. It also protects the marked from ALL magical attacks, however not physical ones. The counter to that is that it heals any injuries really fast, more so than a dragon slayer. It also allows us to know where we are to each other all of the time, allows us to be able to communicate mentally, and allows us to know when we're in ANY kind of pain, not just physical.' Natsu finished, biting his lip slightly at the dazed look on Lucys' face, uncertain if he should add the next part, but he knew she needed to know._

 _'_ _A soul bond also doesn't allow one to live without the other, unless there is a child. If one of us should die, then the other will as well, unless there is a child. Then the remaining mate stays to take care of and raise the child until they reach of age at eighteen. After that the remaining mate dies to be with the other one again.' He finished, waiting to see what she would say, and hoping she wouldn't reject him._

 _It took her a few minutes to respond, and even then it came across as more asking herself rather than him, though he still did._

 _'_ _H-how is that even possible?'_

 _'_ _Well…the answer to that is essentially in the name of the bond itself. A soul bond. By doing a soul bond, we're giving half our soul to the other, willingly.'_

 _Gulping, Lucy took a deep breath, still trying to think of everything he was saying._

 _'_ _Um…is-is there anything else I should know about either one of these bonds?' Lucy wheezed, taking a deep breath as she realized that her lungs were starting to ache for much needed air._

 _'_ _Uh…yea actually….about that…' Natsu sheepishly grinned, lifting a hand to the back of his head. Lucy wasn't buying it for even a second._

 _'_ _What is it Natsu? If you're asking me to do this, you HAVE to be honest with me, completely.' Lucy glared up at him, seeing his flushed cheeks, and the hesitant look in his eyes. 'This is not a decision I can make lightly, and neither should you.' Lucy continued, even as she fought the urge to tackle him already. (Oh who am I kidding, no matter what it is, I know I'll say yes. I've been heads of heels for the idiot for as long as I can remember.)_

 _'_ _With a soul bond….we are literally giving each other half of our souls. It's what makes the bond work so well. And we'd never be alone again Lucy. No matter how many lives, no matter how much time has passed, we'd always find each other again. Also…some dragon characteristics would be given to you as well. Typically something that can help in keeping you safe, such as wings to get you to safety faster.'_

 _When all she did was stare at him unblinking for what seemed like an eternity, Natsu shifted uncomfortably._

 _'_ _I…would….take on some dragon characteristics?...Anything else I need to know about?' Lucy asked faintly, rubbing her forehead as she attempted to wrap her head around the information she was being given. Feeling the warm strength of Natsu's arms slide around her once again, she let her hand fall to rest on his chest as she looked up at him._

 _'_ _Well there is one other thing you should know.' Natsu said quietly, biting his lower lip. This was the first time that she remembered him ever truly being nervous or uncertain about something, and it made her breath quicken in uncertainty._

 _'_ _What's that?'_

 _'_ _Mates can be claimed if those involved agree to it, even if they don't love each other, because the love can grow with time.'_

 _'_ _Ok….and?'_

 _'_ _Mates can be claimed like that…but…..if the people involved already love each other and agree to it, the claiming itself becomes…well….it becomes almost impossible for the dragon of the pair to control themselves.'_

 _'_ _What are you trying to tell me Natsu?'_

 _Letting out a strangled moan as the smell of Lucy's growing arousal tickled his senses, he lowered his head to nuzzle his face into her neck once more._

 _'_ _What I'm trying to say Lucy is….I'm not sure I'm going to be able to control myself when claiming you….it'll be rough….and all my instincts to claim you will be driven to the most primal, basic level….because I love you Lucy. I've known you were mine since we met in Hargeon. It just took me a while to realize why I was always drawn to you so strongly. It's why I'm always climbing in to sleep next to you.'_

 _Lifting his head to meet her shocked gaze, he shrugged. 'You sooth my dragon Lucy. You always have. You've been able to get me to back down when others couldn't. Because all I want is for you to be happy. I love you Lucy.'_

 _Staring up into the dark eyes that had always reminded her of the night sky, that had always found ways to sooth her, make her laugh, help her dream, and keep her fears away, she knew in that instant. Thinking back to all of the times that he had angered her, scared her, made her laugh, made her smile, protected her, she knew that she had been only denying herself._

 _'_ _I love you too Natsu. I think I always have, just never realized it.'_

 _She watched him as she finally admitted her feelings to him, and the smile that lit up his eyes like the stars around them had her heart stuttering. Never before had she seen him so happy. She knew without a doubt that she wanted to be his, wanted to be with him forever, to never be alone. She wanted to be his other half in every way that counted._

 _Neither of them noticed that they had started to glow themselves, too absorbed within each other to see what was happening to them._

 _Without another word uttered, Natsu pulled Lucy against him once more, kissing her deeply, sweeping his tongue in to dance across hers, using his actions to tell her what he had such a hard time putting into words. She was his, she would always be his. He would make sure all others knew that she would never be theirs._

 _Already he could feel his dragon shifting restlessly against what little restraint he had left, and when the sound of Lucy's moan coupled with her hands fisting in his hair raced through him, that control snapped. He had already been on edge the moment he had seen her, the glow of the stars dancing across her skin, and feeling her against him tasting her lips, hearing her moans, he knew that his control wasn't going to last._

 _Lucy gasped as she felt herself being hauled into the air, wrapping her legs around the waist of the man she was pressed against like a second skin. She felt like she was on a rollercoaster that hadn't even started the slow build up before the steep plunge. And she didn't care. She hadn't noticed when she had first seen him here that her muscles had started clenching, aching for something only he could provide._

 _Feeling the sharp edges of his teeth scrape along the skin of her throat, she let her head fall back even as her hands scrambled to remove the open vest he wore, desperate to feel her hands against the hard heat of his chest. She could feel his heart hammering beneath her fingers, and the natural heat he provided grew until it was searing itself into her skin like a memory. Like it was making sure she would never be without this heat again._

 _She didn't know how, but she found that the vest had disappeared, and the scarf soon followed, allowing her fingers to dance across his skin, her lips soon following as she followed his lead and nipped at his skin, leaving marks and trails of where she had tasted him. She had never felt this warm in her life and she didn't want it to stop. While she had never done this before, after listening to Cana so many times, she had at least an inkling as to what was happening._

 _Growling low in his throat, Natsu let his hands race over her skin. She was his, he was finally claiming her! For all the times that he had carried her, and held her hand, held her pressed against his side in silent torture, she was finally going to be his._

 _Desperate need laced his every movement, the desire to finally have Lucy the way they were meant to be clawing its way to the surface. While his inner dragon had been the determining factor in realizing just who she was to him, there was more than just those primal instincts that drove Natsu's need for her. Finally able to caress her milky skin the way he'd longed to for months, he could feel something deeper click into place. It wasn't just the inner dragon begging for her body to willingly bend to his whims and be claimed. Deep within his soul, something that Natsu could only call himself was awash in joy as the blonde's stuttering breaths glided over his flesh._

 _Her taste exploded across his tongue like vanilla and honey and strawberries had been set on fire, making it a delicacy that he wanted to never finish eating. Unable to stop the urging from his dragon, he bit into her neck without breaking the skin, only to get a stronger taste of her, wanting her smell to be absorbed into him so she'd always be there in some way._

 _The small cry of pleasure that escaped her had him twitching and starting to shift against her, creating friction that only had him craving more._

 _The faint smell of something burning had him pulling away from his feast for a moment, dragging in gulps of air as he looked down at her, growling louder at the darkened, lust filled eyes that met his own. Tearing his gaze from hers to look further down, he was certain he was going to swallow and choke on his tongue._

 _On the journey his hands had taken to trace over the skin that would soon be his, Natsu's hands had lit on fire, burning away all barriers that had once stood between her and him._

 _In all the times Natsu had seen Lucy naked, it had never been quite like this. Her heavy-lidded eyes, darkened with lust, peered back at him. Plump lips tinged a dusky rose from their kissing and the blush on her cheeks colored her so beautifully, he was breathless. Her golden, sun-kissed hair was painted in splashes of color from the multi-hued flames surrounding them in the darkness._

 _He'd always loved the way flames danced across her angelic face, how they would only highlight each perfectly sculpted piece of her._

 _Natsu had always loved the way her skin feels, and now, as he's on the verge of devouring her, melding their souls in a way most could only dream of, her silken skin has become like feathers dancing along his flesh. It teased him relentlessly, her hesitant touches that grew in confidence as the seconds ticked by bringing him to the edge of senselessness._

 _Expanding his attention further, he realized that somewhere along the line, she had managed to free him of his vest and scarf, leaving him only in the pants that had become far too tight. For once he was glad he had decided to go commando, and without a second thought, lowered a hand to burn his own pants away._

 _At the first brush of sensitive skin against an already damp core, Lucy whimpered as Natsu growled, instincts pushing him to immediately start pressing against her, her obvious arousal coating him, and dragging him further into the need to claim her._

 _He was already so far gone, his dragon thrashing and roaring inside of him, that he knew he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer, no matter how much she deserved things going slow, and being revered. The sharp bite of teeth against the scar on his neck had him gasping, and sliding harder against her wet folds. He didn't know how he had managed to gain back enough control to keep from just shoving into her hard, but he was glad for it._

 _That is, he was until she managed to say something into against his skin, her words vibrating, sending shivers along his skin. At her words he felt him lose all control as scales appeared across his skin, his canines grew, and his hands gripped her tightly enough to know she'd have bruises._

 _She had sunk her teeth into the pulse of his neck, her tongue dancing along his skin, his taste acting as an aphrodisiac to her senses, when she realized he was still holding back. That was when she knew what to do. Lifting her mouth just enough to speak clearly, she whispered against his skin, knowing that he'd hear her no matter what._

 _'_ _Don't hold back my dragon….my mate!' With that she sunk her teeth into his neck once more to stifle the scream that tore from her throat as she felt him suddenly fill her in one long sharp stroke._

 _Her words. Her words were like the trigger to a gun waiting to be fired, and the next thing he knew he was buried inside of her, her warmth drowning him in sensations that had him growling and snarling as he fought for control once more. He didn't want to hurt her! Not his mate! The scream in his ear told him that he had caused her pain!_

 _The scream died down into heavy pants and long moans, even as her hips shifted against him, her muscles fluttering and clutching in desperation to pull him deeper. He pressed his face tight against her neck while staying still, hoping that he could gain enough control back to make this remotely pleasant for her._

 _She apparently had other plans._

 _'_ _Please Natsu… Take me… Fuck me…. Make me your mate,' Lucy whispered, nibbling on and allowing her breath to flow against his flesh. The grip that suddenly tightened on her hips had her gasping, a moan spilling from her lips even as she rolled her hips to meet the hard thrust he had suddenly given her._

 _His snarls and growls grew louder as he started pounding into her, his hands guiding the pace that was needed, even as her nails dug into his skin and her head fell back. Their cries of passion echoed around them, causing even the stars around them to vibrate and start pulsing faster._

 _'_ _Mavis, Lucy… you feel… so… fucking… good,' Natsu growled, spearing into her over and over again, their skin slapping together. He could feel her getting tighter, as her cries got louder, and her moisture dripped down his legs. Feeling her nails dig into his shoulders had him somehow managing to push into her harder as he let his hands shift around to grab her ass, pressing her tighter against him._

 _He didn't think this would ever be enough for him, and if Natsu had thought she was beautiful before, it was all washed away as he looked at her then. Just being nestled deeply within her was as close to heaven as he'd ever gotten, but then there was the wild, wide-eyed look she was giving him just before their lips crashed together once more. How her breasts bounced and rubbed against his chest with each roll of her hips._

 _He could feel her sex fluttering around his length, and knew that she was getting close. With a snarl he shifted a hand to grip a hip, tilting her so that the bundle of sensitive nerves above where he was sinking into her rubbed against him with each thrust._

 _Her lips tore from his on a wanton scream, driving Natsu further as pleasure coiled deep in his gut._

 _He could feel his balls tightening, and the telling tingle that danced across his nerves to settle at the base of his spine that he wasn't going to last much longer. From the feel of her tightening around him, to the snarls she was now letting loose echoing in his ears, he knew she was close too._

 _'_ _That's it Lucy….scream for me….cum for me baby….I wanna hear it….dammit….cum for me Luce!' Natsu snarled with one last thrust into her, leaning down to sink his teeth into the curve of her neck and shoulder. The first taste of her blood bursting against his taste buds had fire racing through him only to escape as he filled Lucy, his mate, with his seed. His hips jerked and shuddered against her, her own orgasm locking around him and sucking him dry, thirsty for everything he had to give._

 _Her scream of release followed but the distinct pain of her own teeth breaking his skin in her own mark had him roaring out in triumph, even as it sent them both over the edge once more. The combination of back to back orgasms had him clutching her against him tightly even as he dropped to his knees, his teeth still buried in her neck, his dick still being milked inside of her._

 _Feeling overwhelmed by the intensity of their orgasms, neither noticed the explosion of light that came from them, sealing their hearts, souls, and lives together for the rest of eternity._


	8. Chapter 8 Reunion

A/N: Thank you to those who have been reviewing, I know my chapters have been a bit all over the place with length, but I hope you can handle it and don't hate me too much for it.

As always please remember to read and review, I love seeing what you guys think and knowing that I'm bringing some kind of entertainment! And as we all already know, I do not own Fairy Tail!

Chapter 8 Reunion

* * *

 _Her scream of release followed but the distinct pain of her own teeth breaking his skin in her own mark had him roaring out in triumph, even as it sent them both over the edge once more. The combination of back to back orgasms had him clutching her against him tightly even as he dropped to his knees, his teeth still buried in her neck, his dick still being milked inside of her._

 _Feeling overwhelmed by the intensity of their orgasms, neither noticed the explosion of light that came from them, sealing their hearts, souls, and lives together for the rest of eternity._

* * *

 _After what felt like hours, but was surely only minutes, they drew away from each other, smiling, feeling more complete than they ever had before. Tracing her fingers over the scales still visible on his face, Lucy giggled slightly as Natsu shivered under her touch. Pulling his gaze from hers, he ran his eyes over her own face and down over her shoulders, his eyes widening in awe._

 _Scales as pure of a white as the stars that graced the night sky speckled with other colors covered her in a fashion similar to his own. Around her eyes like a mask, across part of her left shoulder, across the top of her breasts, the scales glittered under the glow of the stars that continued to pulse around them. What really drew his gaze like a magnet though, was what covered a portion of her upper right arm and shoulder._

 _His mark on her._

 _A red dragon, wings tucked in, head nestled right where he had bitten her, trailed across her shoulder, its body wrapping around her upper arm. Peering closer at it, he found the tip of its tail just above her elbow. He had never thought that the mark would be so large, but after the soul bond, perhaps it made sense._

 _Lifting a hand from where it had continued to clutch at her hip, he ran a fingertip over the mark from nose to tail, and realized that this was definitely different than anything he had ever heard of. The moment he touched it, he felt a pulsing warmth, almost like a purr, vibrate up his arm, and watched in surprised as the dragons eyes opened to wink at him._

 _Looking back at Lucy directly, he found that she too was gazing at him in shock. He was about to follow her gaze when he felt a sudden stabbing pain in his chest._

 _Coughing against it, he stepped further back, not wanting to hurt Lucy, but realizing that she was already hunching over in pain as well, gasping even as she reached for his hand….only for it to pass through him like a ghost._

 _'_ _Natsu?!' Lucy cried, trying again to catch him, even as she fought to stay up right._

 _'_ _Lucy! I don't know-shit!' Natsu gasped, doubling over as the pain increased._

 _'_ _Natsu you have to go back! I can't lose you, not when we've just gotten this!' Lucy stepped back quickly, seeing that he was starting to fade, realizing what had happened, knowing there wasn't time to explain._

 _'_ _Dammit Lucy no! You have to come with me! I'm not leaving you here!' Natsu tried again to reach for her, feeling betrayed when she stepped back._

 _'_ _Don't worry Natsu, I am coming back. At least part of me. Soul Bond remember? You'll find me soon Natsu, I know you will. I love you.' With one last smile, and a tear rolling down her check, Lucy disappeared, leaving Natsu in the dark once more._

 _Roaring in anguish, defying the darkness that threatened to consume him, he broke free of that which could have killed him._

* * *

"Come on Natsu! You've gotta wake up!" Pressure on his chest had him groaning, then retching as his body fought to expel the liquid in his lungs that didn't belong there. Rolling to his side he coughed and heaved, feeling his throat and sinuses burn as water and stomach bile poured out of him.

"That's it son, you've got it." A soothing voice, plus a solid thump between his shoulder blades had Natsu coughing again, even as he almost stopped breathing again at the words he had just heard. After a few more minutes of his body trembling, and seizing to get the last of the unwanted liquid from his lungs, Natsu collapsed to his side, barely managing to keep from landing face first in what he had gotten rid of.

Seeing the man kneeling above him, Natsu let his instincts take over and let a fist fly, landing on the others jaw and sending them flying back. Panting slight, Natsu rolled to his feet before stalking over to the man still on his back, only now he was laughing even as he rubbed his aching jaw.

"Seven years old man! Seven damn years Igneel! SEVEN GODDAMN YEARS!" Natsu roared, jumping on and letting his fists fly. It wasn't until a few minutes had passed that while Igneel was not doing anything to fight back, none of Natsus' punches were landing on him either. Realizing this, Natsu rolled off of him, panting, his lungs still burning. Hearing his old man sit up next to him, Natsu snarled.

"Are you quite finished? You're welcome by the way." Igneel stated, draping his arms around his drawn up knees.

"What the hell for?"

"If I hadn't come along when I did, you would've died by drowning. What the hell is wrong with you? I taught you how to swim, so drowning in a pond for you would've been embarrassing."

"Shut it old man, a lot has happened since you've been gone. Why the hell are you here in the first place, after all this damn time?"

"I may have been gone, but it was for my own reasons that will hopefully help you in your current problem. You're looking for Phantoms Fist aren't you?" Igneel asked, not at all surprised when he had a hand yanking him forward by the collar of his shirt.

"What the hell do you know about them?" Natsu snarled, not realizing that his right arm was pulsing or that his eyes were flashing from black to fiery red. The steady hand that was placed on Natsus' arm only had him snarling more.

"Natsu stop. You're letting a lot of things cloud your instincts and most of it is getting you no where. Although…I can see you followed your instincts on at least one important step which will in turn help you find Lucy."

"What are you talk-"

"Hey flame brain! Everything alright?" A voice called out, catching Natsus' and Igneels attention at the same time. Shifting towards the voice, they watched as Gajeel broke through the trees, his body tense and ready for a possible fight. It wasn't until a blue head peeked out from behind him that Natsu realized that Levy had been with him. Which in all honesty shouldn't have been surprising.

"Well I'll be…so Gajeel found his mate as well huh? Metalicana would be proud Gajeel!" Igneel stated, grinning at the shock that crossed over his nephews face.

"Wait-Metalicana? You know where he is? Who the he-Igneel?!" Gajeel stuttered before darting forward to yank the man out of Natsus' grasp. "You're Igneel? Where the hell is Metalicana?!" He demanded almost shaking the fire dragon senseless. A flaming fist caught him upside the head and sent him flying.

"Yo bolts for brains, get your hands off my dad!" Natsu snarled. Before he could go after Gajeel, Natsu choked, feeling the scarf he wore pull tightly around his neck and stop him in his tracks. Looking over his shoulder, he glanced up to find the familiar toothy grin, bright blue eyes and bright red hair of his dad towering over him.

"That's enough Natsu. He has every right to want to know what's going on, however there is nothing I can tell him except that Metalicana will return in time when he is needed, much as I have." Glancing over at the iron dragon slayer who was just now sitting up with the help of the blunette by his side, Igneel couldn't help but smirk. "As I said before Gajeel, he would and will be proud that you've found your mate. Shit. She does know right?" Igneel asked with a delayed grimace at the blush that stained the girls cheek. The familiar snarky grin that crossed the boys face was all the answer he needed.

"Yea, she knows thanks to that idiot son of yours who decided to keep us dragon slayers in the ass." Gajeel grunted while getting to his feet to pull Levy against him.

"What the hell are you doing here tin head?" Natsu asked with a scowl.

"We were leaving the guild when I smelled something odd and followed it, which led me here." Gajeel answered bluntly. "It was familiar, like you, but at the same time different, and I wanted to make sure you hadn't gone off the deep end with everything going on. You do still have the ring on right?"

Nodding, Natsu held up his right hand to show the ring. Letting out a huff of breath, he turned to Igneel with a glare.

"Well, since you decided to show up out of nowhere, why don't we all go inside and see if we can figure out what's going on." With that said, Natsu entered his home, leaving the door open for the others to follow.


	9. Chapter 9 One Step Closer

A/N: Thank you to all who are enjoying this story and many apologies for not updating Dragons Bookworm recently! Hit a bit of a wall with that one but hoping to work through it. For now, this one is flowing more for me so I'm just going with it. Hope you enjoy! OH and I don't own Fairy Tail!

Chapter 9 One Step Closer

With a tired sigh, Natsu collapsed onto his couch, his mind still reeling from everything that had already happened. He didn't need to open his eyes to know that his dad dropped onto the couch next to him, while Gajeel took the chair. The distinct sounds of water running, then cupboards being opened and closed, told him where Levy had gone. There were a few moments of blessed silence as they waited for the tea to be done and brought to the coffee table, while the teasing smell of strawberries and vanilla drifted along the air in the room.

Spearing his hands into his hair to support his head, tried to remember all of what had happened, aside from seeing Lucy in spirit again. Hell, just thinking about what had happened had him aching with a deep need that he knew only she would ever be able to ease. Hearing the rattle of a tray being set down, Natsu opened his eyes to find that Levy had indeed made tea, the tea that Natsu kept on hand for Lucy specifically. Without further thought he reached forward and prepared his own cup the way he liked it, leaving the others to do what they would.

After draining half the cup, the fresh heat doing nothing to harm him, Natsu let out a sigh, and sat back, knowing he was about to be bombarded with questions; he only hoped he'd be able to get in a few for himself.

"Alright, fire away." Natsu stated, letting his eyes fall shut once again.

"What the hell salamander? Would you mind explaining why you were attacking your dad?" Gajeel asked, reaching out to pull his own shrimp onto his lap, taking the cup of tea she had made for him with a grunt.

"Before we get into that, why don't we start with the part where I had to pull my sons ass out of the water before he died?" Igneel cut in, taking a sip of his own tea while lifting a brow at Natsu.

"Wait what? He almost died? What the hell Natsu?! I thought you wanted to find Lucy!" Levy yelped, jerking in shock.

"I did find her alright? Or at least, I sort of did…" Natsu sighed, placed his now finished tea on the table before rubbing his face with a hand. A vague pulse and soothing sensation washed over him as he did this, drawing the others attention to the increased glow coming from his right side.

"Uh…..salamander…..would you mind telling the rest of the class what's going on with your right arm?" Gajeel muttered, an utterly perplexed look on his face. "When the hell did you have time to get a tattoo?" Being a dragon slayer, he was able to make out the lines of what looked like a tattoo, but the glow made it difficult to see any detail.

"What are you talking about tin head? I didn't get a tattoo." Natsu huffed, not missing the smirk on his dads' face from the corner of his eye. "And what are you so high and mighty about old man? Need I remind you yet again that you've been gone for seven bloody years?"

"No, you don't need to remind me, believe me, I'm as aware of the time having passed as you are. Do I regret it? No. Am I glad that it happened? Again, no. Do I wish that another way could've been found? Oh hell yes. But that time has passed, I'm back now, and that's all that matters. And Gajeel, I believe he is telling the truth, or at least in his mind he is. He has not gotten a tattoo."

"Then what the hell do you call that thing on his arm? For that matter, why the hell does it smell like Lucy in here?" Gajeel demanded as he shifted Levy into the chair so he could move around the table to poke at what he hadn't gotten a clear look at before. Before he could touch it however, a low level pulse burst from it, just enough to shove Gajeel back a couple of steps. Finally feeling the pulse, Natsu turned to look at his arm in shock.

"Uh…I would be a little more cautious about how you approach Natsu, for the time being at least, Gajeel. That is far from your typical….tattoo."

As Igneel continued to sip at his tea, Gajeel and Natsu stared at the "tattoo", not seeing Levy get up to come around to get a closer look. Slowly, carefully, and gently prying off the restraining hand of her mate who had caught her arm in worry, she stepped closer, until her nose was all but touching Natsus' skin.

"What-how is she able to get so close?" Gajeel asked quietly, taking deep breaths to keep his inner dragon under control. He didn't like how close Levy was getting to him, but somehow he knew that Natsu wasn't a threat to her, or trying to claim her. His instincts were only coming from the fact that he hadn't claimed Levy himself yet, and saw ANY other male as a potential threat.

"Because I'm not actually trying to touch him, and I approached in a calm manner." Levy answered quietly, watching the tattoo pulsing lightly in a seemingly friendly way even as she shifted through the endless knowledge she had stored in her head. There was something about this that seemed to call to her, beckoning her closer…biting her lip, she reached out slowly, ignoring the growl that erupted from behind her. Pausing for a bare moment to settle her nerves, she let her fingers brush across the glow. She didn't hear the concerned shouts as she was pulled under.

*An hour later*

"-hell isn't she awake yet? What the hell did you do salamander?!" Gajeels snarl reached her ears, the worry making her feel warm and safe.

"I don't know! I didn't do anything! You saw she touched me!" Natsu yelped. A resounding thud could be heard and Levy could only assume that he had been knocked to the ground.

"It's not his fault Gajeel. A lot has happened in a very short amount of time, and so whatever happened is simply taking a bit of time for – Levy was it?- to process. I'm sure we'll have many more answers when she wakes up." Another, unfamiliar, voice reached her ears.

With a groan, she managed to force her eyes open to find everything blurred. After a moment, and a few blinks, things cleared and she found her worried body of bolts staring down at her over the back of what she assumed was the couch.

"Shrimp? Can you hear me?" Gajeel asked, his red eyes full of worry as he took in the slightly pale form of his mate. When she had collapsed an hour before, he was certain that his heart was going to stop. He had managed to catch her before she hurt her head, and got her onto the couch after Igneel and Natsu had quickly vacated it.

Letting out another groan, she lifted a hand to her head. She didn't know how many times she told him this, but she was sure that she'd never be able to stop but- "I have a name you know."

Letting out a relieved chuckle, Gajeel could only smile and cup her face in a hand. "Yea, but you'll always be shrimp to me."

Scowling at him lightly, Levy managed to pull herself into an upright position, leaning back against the arm of the couch before turning her gaze to the other two men who had taken up spots on the floor. Seeing that a glass of water had been placed near her, she scooped it up and quickly drained it, grateful for the refreshing sensation against her throat.

"So what was that about Levy? Any idea why you passed out?" Igneel asked, propping his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward.

Letting out a sigh, she rolled her head from shoulder to shoulder, relishing in the relief that came from the sounds of her neck popping. "Yes, I know exactly why, since out of the three dragons in the room, none of you were paying any attention to the one who was trying to show they were here."

"And who was that?"

"Lucy."

She couldn't help but smirk some as Gajeels' and Natsu's jaw dropped. Thankfully she could tell that Igneel knew what she was talking about and simply sat back to watch the show.

"What are you talking about Lev? She's still just beyond the veil, wherever that may be." Natsu stated, unaware that he had lifted a hand to start tracing his upper right arm.

"You're right, she is." Levy conceded with a small smile. "Or at least part of her is, just like part of you now is too. You're marked now Natsu, with what I can only guess is her mark, in what is a soul bond, something that is very rare and very hard to accomplish for dragons apparently."

Blinking at Levy for a moment, Natsu turned his head and couldn't stop the grin that nearly split his face in two before darting off to the bathroom and the mirror above the sink. Leaning close to the mirror, he was aware of the others standing at the doorway, but paid them no mind as he traced reverent fingers over the dragon sprawled across his shoulder.

Curling around him in a fashion similar to the one that he knew now graced the shoulder of Lucy's spirit, the dragon was a deep blue, almost black in color, speckled with lighter colored scales. Its' wings were outstretched slightly, and he could see odd designs decorating them. Looking closer he realized the designs were the constellations of the twelve zodiac that Lucy had gold keys for.

They had spent so much time together over the years and plenty of it was spent star gazing that she had taught him over time how to find the different spirits in the stars. Shifting his gaze in the mirror to where the head rested across his collar bone he found gold eyes peering up at him and blinking.

"Uh…Igneel? I thought marks can't move?" Gajeel muttered, watching in fascination as the dragon blinked and shifted, the tail swishing lightly across Natsus' skin.

"Regular mating marks can't. They provide needed protection from their mates element, and a few other things. Soul bond mating marks on the other hand….well….that becomes a whole new level of fun and interesting." Igneel explained, seeing the small black dragon that was shifting on his son.

"What do you mean by that?" Levy asked as she glanced up at the tall man beside her.

"Soul bonds allow the mark to act in a way similar to that of a pet that can help its' owner. Hell in a lot of ways, that's the marks sole purpose. While the mark cannot actually separate from the marked skin, they can move around wherever on said person. Natsu, why don't you try encouraging your mark to move someplace else?" Igneel stated.

"Uh…how?"

"How should I know? I've never found my mate, so I don't know. Just try something."

"Um…ok?" Keeping his eyes on the mirror, he lifted his hand to tap lightly against his forearm, below the dragon. His fingers had just barely left his skin when the dragon shifted and the four people watched in awe as it slid down to wrap around his lower arm, its head coming to rest on the back of his hand.

He could now see the dragon in its entirety and to say he was stunned would've been a massive understatement. When he finally found himself able to speak, his words came out softly in a near whisper.

"Why didn't you tell me about this when you told me about the soul bond in the first place dad?"

"Because I didn't and still don't know all of what comes with a soul bond. I only know that they do exist, and that they can increase certain aspects for the mates." Igneel paused for a moment, thinking back over what he had learned in his time away. The pause, unfortunately, did not go unnoticed.

"What is it? What are you not telling us?" Natsu asked, turning his head to meet his dad's gaze head on.

Scratching the back of his head in thought, he looked at the three standing before him, and realized there was a lot more going on than he had originally thought.

"Son….there is one aspect of a soul bond that I never mentioned because in some ways I had hoped it would never happen."

"Why?"

"Because for a soul bond to take place, something very traumatic has to happen, allowing for the souls of those to be mated to be able to meet someplace else and mate there as well as in the physical."

"Ok, and?"

"Well, I think I figured out why you were able to get that soul bond. In what little bit of information I have about it….soul bonds are very tricky to obtain because more often than not….the traumatic experience cannot be planned, and it only worked because I got lucky in pulling you out of that pond. Usually getting a soul bond doesn't work…because the attempt usually results in death. If I hadn't been here…you would've died, and then so would Lucy."


	10. Chapter 10 Newcomers

A/N: Thank you so much to all of you wonderful readers, I look forward to your thoughts and opinions on this fanfic. Now I know Dragon's Bookworm hasn't been updated lately, I'm hoping to fix that in the next day or two, but this chapter has been eating at me, and I knew it had to be put out there.

So please, remember to read and review, and feel free to make suggestions or ideas, and we'll see what happens! Enjoy!

Chapter 10 Newcomers

"Well, I think I figured out why you were able to get that soul bond. In what little bit of information I have about it….soul bonds are very tricky to obtain because more often than not….the traumatic experience cannot be planned, and it only worked because I got lucky in pulling you out of that pond. Usually getting a soul bond doesn't work…because the attempt usually results in death. If I hadn't been here…you would've died, and then so would Lucy."

* * *

Levy sat on the small step leading into Natsus home, head tilted back as she contemplated the stars above her. It had been a informative past hour, even more so the past five minutes, and at this point, she wasn't entirely sure just how much more she could take.

' _Usually getting a soul bond doesn't work because the attempt usually results in death.'_ Igneels voice echoed through her head.

Wrapping her arms around her up-drawn legs, she rested her head on her knees, letting out a quiet sigh. She had seen the dragon that now graced Natsus arm, and after feeling like Lucy was there and touching it, she knew that a soul bond could indeed run very deep. Deeper than she had ever thought possible.

When Gajeel had muttered something about wanting to check on the salamander a few hours previously, Levy hadn't thought twice about going with him, it had just happened. After leaving Lily to keep Happy distracted, and Carla company in the guildhall, the walk to the small cabin just beyond the city limits had been a quiet one. So naturally, to break through the tries only to find Natsu pounding someone into the ground was a bit unexpected.

The events following that flew by in a flash, leaving Levy feeling a bit overwhelmed and uncertain of herself after all of it, and she had found herself needing a few minutes alone. However, she also knew that going too far from Gajeel at that point would probably be a bad idea, so sitting on the front step was going to have to make due.

Thinking back on the things she had found out over the last few days alone, Levy knew that she was going to have to do a lot of thinking. There were a few things that she knew for a fact. She loved Gajeel, that was a set in stone fact. She wanted to be his mate; yea another fact. There were so many facts about Gajeel that she knew that she was finding it hard to believe that she was stumbling over this one question that could change everything.

 _Did she want to be soul bonded to Gajeel?_

She could see the pain that Natsu had been going through over the past number of months, and she wasn't sure if she could be as strong as he had been if she ended up on the verge of losing Gajeel. Besides, Natsu and Lucy were strong in their own right. To be bonded the way they were now only enhanced their gifts, and their awareness of each other even in spirit form.

Who was she kidding? She knew that she wanted to be soul bonded to the stubborn tin headed iron dragon. Burying her head further into her knees, she sniffled, fighting the burn in her eyes that threatened to tear up. She knew she wanted the soul bond, would be willing to chance death if it meant having that connection with him. But she also knew the truth.

 _She wasn't strong enough._

Who was she, a shrimpy script mage who kept her nose in the books all of time, who was she to be bound to a strong dragon slayer like Gajeel?

She was buried so deep into her thoughts that she never saw the shadows racing across the ground towards her.

* * *

Gajeel moved to dart after Levy when she ran from the room, only to be stopped by Igneels hand on his shoulder. Glaring at the dragon in human form, he fought to keep from throwing a punch right then.

"Give her a few minutes Gajeel. We've all been through a lot the last few days, this may have just been a bit too much after everything else." Igneel stated, keeping his eyes calm and level on Gajeel.

Shrugging off the restraining hand, Gajeel turned back to Natsu, seeing the salamander staring at his arm. Or more specifically, the black dragon that now shifted along his skin. The mark that Lucy had given him was an impressive one, and intrigued even him. Gritting his teeth, he fought against the thoughts in his head concerning the soul bond.

Would he and Levy have a soul bond? Would he want with her if it meant going through something so traumatic that they could end up dying? After everything that he had done to her, did he deserve that kind of connection? Did he really want her going through something that painful?

Letting out a sigh, he leaned back against the wall next to the bathroom, his own mind chaotic over the things they had just learned over the last few days. He didn't know where to go from here and he hoped that something, ANYTHING, would help give him some guidance, including getting bunny girl back.

A startled shriek from outside had him darting for the front door with the other two dragons following close behind. Yanking the door open had Gajeel almost tripping over Levy as she fell backwards followed by Natsu and Igneel running into him from behind.

"Shrimp! What is it? What's wrong?" Gajeel demanding, crouching down to wrap his arms around her, his gaze sweeping over the clear land in front of them.

"I'm afraid that's my fault for startling her." A lyrical voice stated from off to their left side. Looking to the side, the four adults blinked in confusion at the small creature that stepped out from the shadows of the house. "I promise I mean no harm, I'm only here to help. Well, and to find my partner."

"Uh….who are you?" Natsu asked, managing to ease past Gajeel and Levy to crouch down next to them.

"Are you Natsu?" The voice asked, its body still shadowed.

"I am. And you are?" Natsu repeated eyes narrowing as he picked up a vaguely familiar vibe. He knew he had felt something like it before, but it wasn't the same thing exactly, and he couldn't place where.

At the sudden impact to his chest, Natsu found himself landing rather hard on his ass with his arms wrapped around something warm, soft, and…furry? Looking down he saw big yellow eyes staring back at him, glowing with happiness.

"I'm so glad I found you! I'm Clarity, or Clari for short!" Pushing back slighltly, Clari hopped down from Natsu's lap. Doing this allowed for the others to see her completely, and Natsu realized she seemed familiar.

"An Exceed? What are you doing here?!" Natsu exclaimed, seeing the small body covered in mocha fur with blond stripes, and large eyes blinking with a smile curving its mouth.

"I'm here to find my partner, and to help." She paused as she heard a very loud clearing cough. "Ok, let me rephrase that. WE are here to find OUR partners, and to help. We were sent here by our Queen. She had a vision and was able to point us to who our partners are. If you'll have us that is."

"We? Us?" Levy asked, sitting up slightly but not going far as Gajeels arms kept her from doing so.

"Yes, we, us." Another voice stated from…above?

Looking up found a group of Exceeds above their heads, who quickly came down to join them. Standing before them now, in a range of colors, with Clari included, were nine exceeds, staring at them expectantly.

"Uh….I'm…I….ok, I'm confused…I don't think I've ever seen this many exceed gathered at once, not since after we came back from the trip to Edolas." Natsu muttered, looking over each other them in awe.

"Actually those from Edolas came and joined us, we've been around for a very long time, but kept to ourselves for reasons which may eventually be told." Clari stated with a smile. Crickets chirped for a moment as all but Igneel stared at her dumbfounded.

"Forget that, the better question is why are there so many, and who are they here for?" Gajeel grunted. Feeling pressure against his arms, he looked to see that Levy was trying to free herself from his grip, and with a grumble he let her go, only to watch as she crawled forward, reaching out to a particular grey and black spotted exceed. When said exceed shifted to look up at her with a smile and vibrant green eyes, Levy paused and stared.

"Hello, you must be Levy." The exceed stated softly, tilting its head.

"Um, yes, that's me, but how did you know?"

"We have heard a great many stories about the dragons and their friends in our village. Often a small blue haired bookworm was mentioned by Happy, Carla, and Lily when they came to visit."

"Wait, so you know Lily?" Gajeel asked, leaning forward to prop his elbows on his knees.

"Yes, though he doesn't know me. I, uh, I tended to stay to the outside whenever he came around." The exceed answered, a hint of pink staining it's face.

Before Gajeel could get in another question, Levy asked one of her own.

"What's your name? And who are you here for?"

"My name is Lynn. And I'm actually here to be your partner Levy. I've heard of your love for books, and the fierce sense of loyalty you have to your friends."

"Wait, my partner? But I'm not a dragon, and the only people I know with exceeds are dragons!"

"You're not a dragon. At least not yet. But seeing that you are meant to be mated to one, and you will eventually become part dragon, I'm here to be your partner." Lynn answered calmly.

"Uh…I…I…" Burying her head in her hands, Levy tried to calm her racing thoughts. "I think I need a drink..."

"That actually sounds like a wonderful idea. So why don't we all go to the guildhall and get some drinks seeing as it's only around ten, I would think there are plenty of others still there." With that said, before Levy, Gajeel, or Natsu could argue, they were picked up by the exceeds and carried off with Igneel happily being carried along behind them.

* * *

When the guildhall doors burst open ten minutes later, it was to find a still fairly packed room that stopped to stare at the odd group coming through the doors.

Curses, and growls echoed throughout the hall, quickly followed by solid thuds as two dragon slayers were dropped roughly, while two others were lowered carefully until their feet touched the ground.

From his spot sitting on the bar, Markarov stared in surprise at the group of exceeds surrounding the tall man, the small bookworm, and the tangled limbs of two dragon slayers. "Just what in the hell is going on here?!" He shouted, feeling the presence of Laxus and Mira flanking him from behind the bar.

"Uh….I don't exactly know how to explain…but uh….well-" Levy started only to suddenly be cut off by a pair of voices.

"Laxus!"

"Mira!"

Small blurs were seen darting across the hall as two of the exceeds raced over to tackle the two standing behind the bar. The confused looks on their faces echoed those throughout out the hall.

Looking down at the small cat in her arms, Mira couldn't help but start squealing some as she hugged it closer. "Oh my god you're so cute! Who are you?" Mira asked after a moment, fingers reaching to scratch the cat between the ears.

"That's Willow. And the other is Kaden." Lily answered, hopping up to stand next to Markarov. Looking from the lilac and blue tipped body of Willow to the tan body of the exceed clinging to the shirt Laxus was wearing, he continued. "But what are you doing here?" Looking over his shoulder to those who had ventured further in. "What are all of you doing here?"

"It's simple really Lily." Willow answered with a purr, nuzzling against the hand petting her.

"We're here to be with our dragons, their mates, and join the guild!" Kaden answered, his slightly deeper voice raised to be heard by all.

Lifting a paw to rub his face, Lily darted a glance over to the rest of the exceeds who were still grouped together, Happy and Carla having joined them. There was one in particular he hoped was there, but he couldn't see the familiar gleam of grey fur.

"Looking for someone Lily?" A voice asked from right behind him. Smiling happily, he spun around to hug the other exceed close.

"Lynn! You're here! But why? Gajeel and Levy haven't…uh…well-"

"Don't worry, I know they haven't. But the queen had a vision, and sent us ahead now, even though this wasn't supposed to happen yet." Lynn interrupted, looking past Lily to see that Gajeel had managed to get free of Natsu and join Levy at the bar a few seats away, watching the exceeds.

"What's happened?" Lily asked quietly.

Before she could answer, Laxus spoke up, with a hint of confusion coloring his voice.

"Would someone mind telling me why I have a damn exceed attached to me right now? OW!"

"Laxus you be nice!" Mira huffed, lowering the hand that had smacked him across the back of his head.

"My name is Kaden, and I'm attached to you at the moment because I was sent to be your partner, just as Willow was sent to be Mira's, Lily is Gajeels, Happy is Natsu's, and Lynn is Levy's. We're here, because the others are going to be here soon."

"Wait, what others?" Carla asked from her spot on the table next to Wendy. It could be seen that of all of the dragons and mates, Wendy and Romeo seemed to be taking it in stride the best. An orange and red tipped exceed was perched on Romeo's shoulder, who in turn had a large grin on his face. Happy had taken his usual place on Natsu's head while Clari draped herself over Natsu's right arm. The last of the exceeds sat at the end of the table with Natsu, Wendy, and Romeo, paying attention to what was being said.

Stepping away from the doors that he had stayed by for a moment to watch everything, Igneel stepped up to brace a hip against the table with the other exceeds.

Smirking slightly, knowing that what he was one of the reasons for the exceeds being there, he raised his voice to answer Carla's question.

"The other slayers and their mates. ALL of them."


	11. Chapter 11 Strong Enough?

A/N: Hey folks! Sorry I didn't update sooner, hit a bit of a writers block, PLUS a lot of stuff going on in life. Was on the verge of being kicked out of my place, trouble finding a job, so on and so forth. But I finally managed to finish this chapter, and I really hope you'll like it! Uh...warning, it might get a little angsty...Don't kill me for the ending of this chapter please! *hides all the bricks*

And please fellow readers and writers, remember to _**READ AND REVIEW!**_ It is what helps keep us writers going!

Chapter 11 Strong Enough?

* * *

 _Stepping away from the doors that he had stayed by for a moment to watch everything, Igneel stepped up to brace a hip against the table with the other exceeds._

 _Smirking slightly, knowing that what he was one of the reasons for the exceeds being there, he raised his voice to answer Carla's question._

 _"The other slayers and their mates. ALL of them."_

* * *

"ALL? What do you mean ALL?!" Markarov sputtered, looking at the tall red haired young man striding further into the hall. "And just who the hell are you anyways?!"

"Yo Gramps, it's alright, he's on our side. Or more, well, on the dragons side." Natsu explained with his trademark grin. The same grin that had been missing for months. It was such a change in his attitude of late that many were shocked into silence. Exchanging looks, Gajeel and Levy snuck outside, using one of the side doors, knowing that no one would see them leave.

"Natsu, what is the meaning of this? Who is this man?" Markarov asked quietly, hopping down and moving to stand beside him.

"Really Markarov? You don't recognize me? I'm hurt!" Igneel said with a smirk, taking to a knee so they would be closer to each-others height. It took Markarov a moment, but when he finally realized why the same grin was so familiar, his reaction was one that no one was expecting.

An enlarged fist came crashing down on Igneel, causing the floor beneath him to crack. All around the guild, sweat drops could be seen as members looked on in shock.

"Seven years you flame brained idiot! Seven years I've been raising your boy and he's been causing countless damage to the guild and towns! I thought you taught him better before sending him my way!" As he yelled, Markarov pounded Igneel further into the floor, before finally coming to a stop and catching his breath. He didn't have to open his eyes to know that little to no physical damage had actually been done to the dragon king.

Anyone paying attention would see that Natsu was still sitting, and just watching like he hadn't a care in the world.

"Feel better Maki?" Igneel asked dryly as he got to his feet, hands dusting off his clothes.

"Yes I do….." Looking up at the dragon turned man now towering above him, Markarov pursed his lips for a moment...only to lash out a fist one last time and send Igneel flying across the guild hall. "Ok, NOW I feel better." He muttered before resuming his spot on top of the bar.

Letting out a slight groan, Igneel pulled himself from the crater of the wall he was in and joined the rest of the guild once more. "Ok, I get it, you're a bit pissed, and you're not the only one. But there are reasons I did things the way I did, and no, there isn't enough time to explain everything right now."

"Then what are we supposed to do right now Igneel? Your son's mate is missing, there's a new threat that we still don't know anything about, said threat is the one that took Lucy, and we're no closer to finding her than we were before." Markarov scoffed, glaring over the mug he was drinking out of. He was aware of how this looked to the rest of the members, and knew that there was going to be a lot of explaining later. He only hoped that for now his children would follow any orders given to them.

Looking around at the still silent members surrounding them, Igneel let his gaze fall on his son with a soft smile. He could see the soul bond mark on his arm, and knew that eventually the others would ask. At first he had been upset that the bond had happened for fear of losing his son. But now, he realized that perhaps it would lead them to Lucy that much faster.

"Listen up everybody. The other slayers, Sting, Rogue, and Cobra, along with their mates, will be here in a couple of days. I know how to find Lucy, but unfortunately we need the others here before we can proceed. I know this isn't what you want to hear, but we're closer to getting her back then you were in the last number of months. So please. Be patient just a little longer." Igneel said, keeping his gaze on his son, whose eyes lit with a fire of determination that would not be put out until his mate was with him once again.

The sound of the guild hall doors crashing against the walls drew everyones attention to find Levy stumbling into the hall, blood dripping down her face, and from her arm. Even as she collapsed to the floor, Wendy and Erza were rushing over to help her, Wendy's hands glowing brightly.

"Levy! What happened?! Who did this?!" Erza asked, lifting her carefully against her armor into a slumped position.

"T-they took him….Lucy…and….Phantoms Fist….th-they took….Gajeel…." Levy panted, tears mixing with the blood on her cheeks, a low keening wail spilling from her as sobs shook her small frame.

The silence shattered as roars of anger burst forth from slayers and members alike.

* * *

 _*Ten minutes before, when Gajeel and Levy snuck out of the hall*_

"Come on shrimp, we need to talk…" Gajeel muttered to the small woman beside him, his eyes moving over the other members and seeing that they weren't being paid attention to. Thankfully even the exceeds were distracted, and before Levy could find a reason to stay, he grabbed her hand and pulled her through a side door leading them outside.

"Dammit Gajeel! Are you sure this is a smart idea? With everything going on, we should've stayed back there!" Levy huffed, jogging slightly to keep up with his longer strides as he led her around the guild hall to a tree close by but far enough for some privacy.

"Look! We need to talk, and we can't do that properly with all of those idiots in there!" Gajeel snapped, stopping and turning to stare down at the fairy that had somehow managed to worm her way into his heart.

"Couldn't it have waited? What's going on back there is pretty important!" Levy rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

"No it couldn't cause this is just as important!" Gajeel growled. Gritting his teeth, he spun around, throwing a punch into the tree behind him. The crack of wood could be heard as his fist splintered some of the bark. Surprisingly, the tree remained standing, albeit with a fist sized hole now in its trunk. Shaking his head, he forced himself to say the words that he knew would tear his heart to pieces.

"Look shrimp….I know you're my mate, and because of that you know I will always love you, I would give my life for you…" He said softly, afraid to face the eyes that he had always been able to get lost in.

"I know you do Gajeel, and I love you as well. Surely you know that by now?" Levy asked after a moment of shocked silence, lifting her hand to rest on his back.

"I do know. Levy…it's because of how I feel for you that….I don't want to do a soul bond with you…" He continued, squeezing his eyes shut at the pained gasp he heard.

"W-why? I mean I can understand why…I'm not the strongest….and I know you could do better than me….be with someone stronger…" Levy whispered, her hand falling to her side in a loose fist as pain tore through her. Swallowing hard against the lump in her throat, she turned back to stare blindly at the lights glinting from the windows and torches. She cringed away from him when she felt a large hand drop onto her shoulder, trying to turn her around.

"That's not it at all Levy! Your strength has nothing to do with it! You're strong in your own right and can give many of the members, myself included, a run for their money! Don't ever think that you're not strong!" Gajeel growled, feeling his stomach twist at the scent of her tears, the blue of her hair glowing in what light there was. He felt her cringe away from him like a stab in the heart, and had to fight every instinct to not let her go.

"But I'm not strong Gajeel! If I was I could handle going through whatever needs to be done to have the soul bond! You deserve someone who can handle it! And it's obviously not me, even you don't think I'm strong enough!" Levy shouted, spinning back around to glare up at him, unashamed of the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks as her eyes flared in anger and pain. "I know I'm not good enough for you, and it's obvious that Natsu made some kind of mistake when he claimed I was your—" Levys' shouting was cut off suddenly by a vicious growl followed by strong arms wrapping around and lifting her for Gajeel to press his lips hard onto hers. At her gasp of shock, he took control, slipping his tongue in to dance with hers, claiming the kiss with dominance, his growl vibrating low in his chest and against her.

A few moments passed of him trying to tell her in every way that he could through a kiss, how he felt about her. It wasn't until the much needed air made itself known before he freed her lips, resting his forehead against her own. Another few seconds passed before he found the words he needed to say to her, and when he said them, she felt her heart and soul shudder.

"Levy…listen to me….if there is going to be anyone who decides who is good enough for me, then it's going to be me. And YOU are more than good enough…I honestly don't deserve you…but only because of how good you are…and the strength you have blows me away every day…You are my mate, Natsu made no mistake about that. And I WILL claim you as soon as everything dealing with Phantoms Fist calms down. But I don't want to claim you in a soul bond….because I'm being selfish. I don't want you to die for me Levy. If I die….in soul bond that means you would go with me…..I'm not strong enough to live without you…but you…Levy if I died, I know you're strong enough to keep going until it really was your time….I don't want a tie like the soul bond to take that choice away from you….please Levy, understand….you're so much more….than I deserve…I…I lo-" Gajeel choked as he felt something stab into him from behind, the explosion of pain causing him to cry out even as he threw Levy away from him. Once he saw she was far enough away, he looked over his shoulder to find Lucy and what looked like, but wasn't Leo, standing behind him with dull eyes.

"L-Lucy?" Gajeel gasped against the pain, now seeing what Natsu had meant before. He could feel pain radiating from his shoulder and realized that Leo was holding a knife and the blade was buried in his shoulder. He could feel something in the blade sapping away his strength, and his magic. It took him a second longer to see that a blood red aura was starting to glow from Lucy's hands as she reached out from him. Turning his head back to see Levy scrambling to her knees, with blood spilling down her face, he met her gaze with a sad smile and shook his head quickly. He knew she would try and come after him. And he knew it was too late. Already he could feel himself being pulled into whatever magic it was that Lucy was being controlled by. He had just enough time to whisper a phrase to her before darkness claimed him.

A/N: I know I know a cliffhanger! Please don't kill me! I hope to have the next chapter posted sooner than I did this one, so please bare with me! Good news though! I got a part time job, might have a second, so my available time might be changing soon, but I'm still going to update as often as I can, and I am no longer on the verge of being kicked out of where I live!


	12. Chapter 12 Identifying

A/N: Ok, so good news! I got a job! Yay! And I might even have a chance at a second part time job as well! Yay!...not so yay is that I don't know how often I'll be able to update, so I'm doing what I can right now, and if I hit a good flow, I may be able to update a couple of chapters at a time, or it may take a few weeks, depending on scheduling. SO please bare with me, and have patience, I want to update as often as possible. Anyways, please remember to READ AND REVIEW! Us writers live for them!

Chapter 12 Identifying

 _He could feel something in the blade sapping away his strength, and his magic. It took him a second longer to see that a blood red aura was starting to glow from Lucy's hands as she reached out from him. Turning his head back to see Levy scrambling to her knees, with blood spilling down her face, he met her gaze with a sad smile and shook his head quickly. He knew she would try and come after him. And he knew it was too late. Already he could feel himself being pulled into whatever magic it was that Lucy was being controlled by. He had just enough time to whisper a phrase to her before darkness claimed him._

* * *

He knew what he was doing. Even as he felt the painful jerk of the one he considered a friend, he knew what he was doing. And he hated it.

Time had no meaning for him right now. Not for however long it had been since he had been taken by the fake Lucy. Everything felt detached, as if he was watching his actions from the sideline, while being locked in a room he couldn't get out of. That part of him watched in utter horror and grief as he watched the knife coated in slow moving poison and spelled to suck away magic slid into the shoulder of his friend.

Gajeel.

He had never wanted this to happen.

Like Lucy, and being a spirit, a part of him had managed to escape what had captured him, but he hadn't been able to find Lucy's spirit. He wanted to help. He wanted to be able to pick Levy up from where she'd been thrown and get her to safety. He wanted to free Gajeel from the same magic that he knew to be tearing part of his soul away.

There were so many things he wanted.

Most of all he wanted to be free of the guilt he felt at wanting to help Aries more than the others. Like him she had been captured. He had only been able to stand and watch as each key had been called forth than over taken by the red aura that bled from Lucy. In this existence he had no idea how to fix things. And as he followed, and listened to those who had taken Lucy, he heard their plans, terror taking root, growing, and rendering him useless.

* * *

Panting heavily, biting back the moan of pain that wanted to escape them, he lifted his gaze to the puppets that resembled his nakama and her spirits. They looked exactly like they normally did. Except for the eyes.

No life.

No emotion.

Nothing but dolls waiting for orders.

He could feel his anger boiling away inside of him, giving him some strength. But he couldn't bring himself to hurt them. Not when it wasn't their fault. Not that he could hurt them anyways.

His hands had been stretched up and away from him, holding him tight with magic cancelling cuffs, and he could feel the aching strain on his shoulders. Another large magic cancelling cuff was wrapped around his ankles keeping his feet together and chained to the floor, making movement impossible for him.

Sweat drenched hair pulled on his head as it hung down his back, the stab wound in his shoulder feeling on fire as the salt of his sweat mixed with it. It had been a long time since he had been in quite this much pain, but he knew it was nothing compared to the pain and fear he had seen on his shrimps face before he had fallen unconscious.

He kept his head down, hanging limply, his breath still heavy when he heard the shuffle of feet coming from outside of the door of the room he was being held in. A few seconds later the door swung open, revealing a small child sized girl wearing white clothing and her equally white hair being held up in a high tail. Her blue eyes were cold, filled with contempt. Even though he kept his head down, and eyes closed as much as possible, he was able to see everything about this child through the smallest bit his eyes were still open.

He knew he had to give the impression that he was still unconscious so he could try and figure out some way to get out of there. If he could get out, then he could figure out where he was. If he could do that, then he could back to the guild. Following that line of thinking, he could then-

"Don't think you can escape dragon slayer. I know that you're awake." The child chided softly as she stepped closer, reaching to tip his head up to meet his burning gaze with her cold one. Snarling, he lunged forward to try and snap his teeth into her hand. It didn't surprise him much when she dodged it, however the sudden blow to his cheek, leaving even his ears ringing was something he hadn't expected. Gritting his jaw against the pulsing ache and the taste of blood in his mouth, he managed to keep silent even as he swayed against the chains from being hit.

The pains in his body made themselves loudly known at the sudden movement, and Gajeel found himself biting into his lower lip till he drew blood to keep from screaming.

After a few moments of gasping, fighting to think past the pain, he lifted his gaze, sneering at the smirk he found on the childs face.

"If you know I'm awake, then maybe you can tell me who the fuck you are." Gajeel muttered, his eyes narrowed even as he shuddered in revulsion at the pleasure he saw flash across her face.

"Ah there you are my good little dragon. I knew you'd speak eventually." The child said with a purr, stepping back only to move around him, her fingers trailing over him, a hand fisting in his hair to pull his head back before moving on to drag her nails across the open wound on his shoulder, coating her fingers in his blood before standing in front of him once more. With a smirk, she lifted her red fingers to her mouth, slipping them in one at a time to clean each one, never taking her eyes from his face.

Gajeel fought hard to not react, even as on the inside his stomach turned at the sight of her taking such enjoyment from his pain and blood. He would be the first to admit that he was into a bit of pain, but only the kind that actually brought pleasure in end for both people involved, not just one. But this….what this…child was doing was making his motion sickness feel like a walk in the park.

As the silence drew on from him refusing to rise to her bait, he felt his own mouth twitch in a smirk as the girl before him lost patience and slapped him again, her angelic like face shifting into a snarl of fury. Another wave of pain flashed through him, and unfortunately this time he wasn't quite able to stop the groan from slipping past his lips.

The chuckle that echoed around the room had him shuddering as he shifted his gaze to the girl once more, the satisfied smirk on her face giving him pause.

"You'd like to know who I am wouldn't you Black Steel Gajeel? Well….now that I've had a taste of your blood….once Lucy is done with you…..you'll be calling me My Lady or Mistress….though coming from you, I think you'd do better with Mistress." The child explained, stepping forward to press close, holding his head still as she pressed her lips to his, teeth pulling his lower lip to her as she soothed the inside cut with her tongue. The snarls and jerking that escaped him had her smiling before she stepped back. The red aura that she had forced into his mouth was already forcing its way deeper into his body, and a moment later a pain filled howl escaped him.

He was thrashing hard against the chains, the magic cancelling cuffs doing nothing to stop the magic that been forced into him. The girl watched all of this with a cruel smile before turning to leave.

At the door, she paused to look at the celestial mage watching all of this with a blank face. "Lucy, I want you to call out Virgo and have her punish him while the change is happening. He'll learn to obey me no matter how hard he fights it." With that said, she left the room, hearing Lucy's monotone voice call out Virgo. A few seconds later more screams could be heard following the sounds of a whip striking flesh repeatedly.

Things were moving along perfectly.

* * *

"Levy…Levy honey…..come on….please….you need to talk to us…." Mira said softly, sitting down across from the script mage, ignoring the piles of books that were spread over the table and nearly blocking her from sight. It had only been a couple of hours since Gajeel had been taken, and as soon as she had managed to sob out where they had been, Laxus, Natsu, Wendy, and Igneel had rushed out to find his scent. They hadn't yet returned, and when they had left, Levy had managed to free herself from Erza's hold and stumble down to the library.

Not knowing what else to do, Mira, Romeo, Gray and Erza had followed her down there only to find her darting around the rows of books and grabbing many before dropping the books off at the table. Jet and Droy had tried to follow them as well, but the look they had gotten from the takeover mage had stopped them in their tracks and instead they waited in the hall with the other members.

After a few minutes more of racing from shelf to shelf, Levy had finally settled down at the table, shoved her gale force glasses onto her face and picked up the first book.

That had been nearly ten books ago.

Now the others sat across from and next to her, keeping an eye out for the other slayers to return, and ready to get Levy anything else that she needed.

Biting her lip at not getting a response, Mira braced herself and reached out to cover the open pages of the current book with her hand, stopping the magic of the glasses, and breaking Levy's concentration. The glare she received from the small blunette was one that any other time she would've been able to handle. Add in the tears that were still trailing down her cheeks though and Mira felt as if she'd just been stabbed in the gut.

"Mira. Let go. I need to continue." Levy said firmly, clearly. The conviction in her voice, layered with anger, had Mira swallowing before shaking her head.

"I'm sorry Levy I can't do that. Not yet. We came down to help you Levy. We may not be as adept as you at researching, but tell us what we're looking for, and we might be able to help." Her voice was calm, even, and thankfully steady, even though all she wanted to do was tremble at the sight of Levy's anger. She had NEVER seen Levy this upset, in such pain, and it made Mira realize that there was a good chance that Levy could be, if not already was, as strong as Erza and herself. Just sitting there, doing her research, Levy was still trembling, vibrating in repressed anger.

Taking a deep breath, and letting her eyes fall shut for a moment, Levy attempted to gain some control over her emotions, but she somehow knew she wouldn't be able to until she had Gajeel back in her arms. Leaning back, she reached up to take the glasses off of her face for a moment, rubbing her eyes, before opening them to look the others sitting with her. She could see the worry, the fear, the need to do something, anything, to help. No matter how big or small the thing was, they needed to be doing something.

And she knew she could actually use their help. With where she was at that moment emotionally, there was a chance that she could miss a detail, which they couldn't afford to miss anything. Sitting up, she gave a sharp nod.

"Fine. You want to help? Find every single book we have in here, even in the section meant for just the Master, on blood magic, dragons, celestial magic, seith magic, in fact pull Bix down here to help with that as well, and any books dealing with any kind of soul ties and bonds." Levy said firmly, looking from each person. "Drag Freed down here as well, I know he could be of use in finding something. Plus he may think of something that I haven't." Leaning back, she let her eyes fall shut, showing that she wouldn't speak again until the others were down here. She heard the rapid steps of Gray rushing up the stairs to get the others and it wasn't long before the sound of multiple pairs of feet returned, and she opened her eyes to find Gray, Freed, and Bix looking at her expectantly.

"Alright, any and all books on blood magic, souls or spirits, celestial and seith magic, and dragons needs to be collected and gone through. Doesn't matter what section it's in, if you find something, grab it and bring it back. Once that's done, grab a book and start reading. There are spare gale force glasses in the desk over there, should be enough for anyone willing to read. Some of you can start reading while others look, and if you find something, no matter how big or small, say something." Levy explained firmly.

"Um…even the section reserved for just the Master Levy?" Freed asked quietly, uncertain as to how Master would take her saying that. "You need permission for th-"

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE ABOUT PERMISSION FREED!" Levy exploded out of her seat, knocking it back to slam into the shelves a few feet behind her. She didn't notice that the others had stumbled back at her response. She didn't even notice that she had launched herself at Freed and was pounding her fists against him, her breathes sobbing as she screamed up into his face. "WE'RE LOSING OUR NAKAMA FREED! I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE FUCKING RULES OR GETTING PERMISSION! THIS CAN'T KEEP HAPPENING! WE HAVE TO GET THEM BACK! I HAVE TO GET HIM BACK! I HAVE TO SHOW HIM! PLEASE JUST HELP ME GET HIM BACK!" Levy cried, going limp against Freed, her sobs racking her small frame. He had wrapped his arms tight around her and when he felt her start to collapse he sank to his knees with her, still holding her, rocking back and forth.

Looking over her head at the shocked and saddened looks on the others faces. Giving a quick nod, he focused on Levy once more, seeing the others dart off to different corners of the library to find any book dealing in what she had listed. It took a few more minutes to calm Levy further, and when she did he drew back slightly to look down at her hair.

"What happened Levy? What do you have to show him?" Freed asked, already knowing that it had to do with Gajeel. Hearing her sniffle, he cringed, hoping he hadn't started another bout of crying.

"I have to show him that I'm strong enough. That he does deserve me. That just as he can't live without me, I can't live without him either. I have to show him that we can have a soul bond like Natsu and Lucy have."

"I'm guessing that's something very important for dragons and their mates?" He asked, carefully running his hands over her back. He knew that if this had been any other time, the likely hood of him keeping his hands if Gajeel were around were very slim.

"It is. And I came down here because he told me something right before they took him."

"And what was that?" A new voice, reminding them oddly of Gajeel, sounded from behind them. Shifting slightly, Freed was able to look over his shoulder, even as Levy leaned to peer around him.

Standing at the doorway were the other slayers of the guild as well as Igneel, a serious look set on his face. It was the one in front that drew Levy's attention the most, bringing her to her feet quickly only to stumble slightly as she hurried closer to him. Red eyes peered down at her in a bored look, framed by metal studs above and below his eyes. Decorating his nose and chin as well, Levy glanced down to find crossed arms decorated in a manner similar to that of Gajeels.

Taking a quick step back she looked up again to find that shoulder length gunmetal gray hair was the only thing that really separated Gajeel from this man. The clothes were similar, the stance was similar, even the scowl on his face was almost a dead ringer for Gajeels.

"Y-you-you're-" Levy stammered, swallowing hard against the lump in her throat. She realized that this was likely what Gajeel would look like when he got older, and that thought alone had her flushing.

"What did he say brat?" The man growled, leaning over to get into her face, his eyes narrowing. He bit back the smirk that wanted to turn into a full grin when she met his gaze head on, shock shifting into determination as she rolled her shoulders back and lifted her chin to him.

"His words were this: "Blood Magic" and "Souls"." Levy answer grimly. Somehow she managed to keep from jumping at the growl that her words got in return as the man shifted back to his full height.

"Well shit. Looks like the bitch is back after all." He snarled, glaring at Igneel over his shoulder.

"You really should watch your language you know." Igneel sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Before anything else could be said, Levy said something that had everyone choking on surprised laughter.

"I don't give two shits about his fucking language right now. We have more important things to see to, like getting Lucy and your son back Metalicana. If you're not here with helpful information, or to help find it, then you can go right the fuck back upstairs and stay out of my way." Levy stated, her gaze hard and cold.

The shocked look on Metalicana's face quickly morphed into laughter, as he bent at the waist to grab his knees. "You're definitely my son's mate! Didn't think he'd ever manage that!"


	13. Chapter 13 Annabella

**A/N:** Ok folks! I managed to get another chapter up in a fairly short amount of time, way to go me! I do not yet know how long I'll be able to keep this up though, as I officially have two part time jobs now, and will be working 30-40 hour weeks. SO please bare with me. Also! There will be a great deal of talking going on in this chapter, not as much action, BUT it is also a informative chapter! You find some things out about what's been happening and those behind it. Hopefully you'll enjoy and please remember to **READ AND REVIEW**! IT IS OUR BREAD AND BUTTER TO US WRITERS!

Chapter 13 Annabella

 _"You really should watch your language you know." Igneel sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Before anything else could be said, Levy said something that had everyone choking on surprised laughter._

 _"I don't give two shits about his fucking language right now. We have more important things to see to, like getting Lucy and your son back Metalicana. If you're not here with helpful information, or to help find it, then you can go right the fuck back upstairs and stay out of my way." Levy stated, her gaze hard and cold._

 _The shocked look on Metalicana's face quickly morphed into laughter, as he bent at the waist to grab his knees. "You're definitely my son's mate! Didn't think he'd ever manage that!"_

* * *

Huffing out an annoyed breath, Levy glared at the dragon turned man who was still laughing loudly. "If you're going to just stand there and laugh, then you can do it upstairs!" She snapped, spinning around to plop down at table once more, already reaching for another book. She didn't have to pay close attention to know that the pile of books on the table and around it had already grown from the others bringing books over.

Not wanting to face her wrath, they had kept working without comment, even though their curiosity had them wanting to talk to the new dragon. It wasn't until they saw said dragon follow to sit down across from Levy in a slump like Gajeels that they paused.

"You're not going to find what you're looking for in any of those books little waif." Metalicana said gruffly, reaching forward to snag book from her hands and slap it closed. He could feel his lips twitch slightly at the glare he received over red rimmed glasses, feeling a twinge of envy and happiness flow through him. While he had never found his mate, he had always hoped Gajeel would, and seeing the blue haired waif glaring at him, gave him some hope that maybe he still would someday. From looks alone, Levy was breathtaking, but adding the attitude, and the brain power? He could see why his son had been so drawn to her. She may be small, but it was obvious that she could hold her own against others.

"And just how would you be so sure of that?" Levy quipped, folding her arms and leaning back, her eyes unwavering as she looked at him.

"Because Metalicana, the others and I already know who's behind this. We thought we had managed to get rid of her a long time ago, but apparently that wasn't the case. We were the ones to lock her away, as she was too powerful at the time for us to outright beat her, and we had honeslty hoped that would the last of her that we saw." Igneel answered, settling down beside the older iron dragon. It didn't take long for the others to join them, gathering around the table to watch them closely. Natsu had settled next to Levy, wrapping his arm around her, knowing that at that moment they would need to draw strength from each other after everything that had happened.

"You know who is behind this? Why the hell are you only NOW mentioning it?" Natsu seethed, his eyes flashing to red with slitted pupils before edging back into his human eyes.

"Because before we only had suspicions, not hard facts. But when we went to try and catch Gajeels trail, we found another smell, one that only we would know. Once we caught that scent though…." Igneel trailed off, his head falling into his hands.

"Once we caught that scent, we realized that there may be more to this than we thought." Metalicana continued gruffly.

"That's enough from the two of you. I trusted and respected your decisions a number of years ago, going on very little information, and faith in your capabilities. But you have left us in the dark for too long. Our nakama have been taken from us, two of them strong mages in their own rights, and mates to other strong wizards. We need answers if we're going to get them back. So stop dancing around the answers, and tell us what we need to know." The masters voice was firm and clear, drawing the attention of everyone as they turned to find him on the stairs leading to the main hall. Surrounded by exceeds with Romeo standing just behind him, some would say he looked a touch odd, but those who knew him, knew that this was a part of his strength.

Romeo was quick to join Wendy, slipping his arms around her from behind as the exceeds managed to climb into laps and onto the table. The tension grew as the silence stretched on, Markarovs gaze never once leaving that of Igneels. The indecision, worry, and plain stubbornness could be seen clearly, and it was unclear as to who would bend first.

The sharp jab to his ribs had Igneel breaking the staring contest first as he glanced over to Metalican who met his gaze, his mouth set in a firm line, before nodding once. Groaning, Igneel let his head fall to the table with a hollow thud, waving a hand at the other dragon. Lifting his gaze to those around him, Metalicana took a deep breath before beginning.

"Her name was Annabella. We didn't know her last name. We didn't know where she came from. When we met her, we were not as….cautious about things as we are now. She had stumbled upon our caves where we had made our nest, living together fairly peacefully. Well, about as peacefully as can be expected since it was the seven of us. When she came to our caves, she was dirty, clothes torn, stank of piss, shit, blood, and mud. Your typical lost creature. We took her in, blind to her actual intentions. This was before we took any of you in, raising you as our own. Each of you were children, still fairly innocent, if not wary of those around you. She on the other hand, was not a child. She was almost full grown, and had already been corrupted in a way that known of us had expected." Metalicana explained.

"Just as we had found and raised each of you, she had been found and raised as well. Only, she was found by someone who sought to use her magic to their advantage." Igneel cut in, his voice muffled by the table. "In doing this, they led her to their way of thinking, which is the complete opposite of ours. Promises were made to her that she would get once she completed her tasks….however, that hasn't happened as of yet, and we had thought we'd managed to stop her, but she's back. We don't know how, but she is."

"What did she do that made you see her differently?" Wendy asked quietly, taking comfort in the warmth of Romeo wrapped around her, fighting off the chill that was threatening to creep along her skin.

"As you are all aware, all magic has the potential of being seen as good, bad, or in between. Fire, for example, can be seen as bad as it can be highly destructive. It can also be seen as good as it can provide warmth, and save lives by fighting off the cold, or cauterizing a possibly fatal wound. Air or wind, while healing, and providing us with the oxygen we need to survive, can also be lethal when used with ill intent. All magic has a middle ground between good and bad, however, the intent of the mage determines how far on either side the magic falls. Annabella is a blood and soul mage. She could do a lot of good with her blood magic by healing illnesses, or being able to manipulate blood to replenish faster when needed." Igneel explained, lifting his head and shifting to sit more upright.

"Also as a soul mage, she can help ease sorrow, boost happiness, or in the event of danger, take control of souls and the bodies that house them and move them to a safe location." Metalicana added.

"So almost like seith magic?" Bickslow asked quietly from his place beside Freed. For once he was keeping quiet, and his tongue was no where to be seen. "Wait, does this mean she's a dragon slayer if she was with you guys for a time?"

"Very similar actually." Metalicana agreed. "And no, technically she is not a dragon slayer. She wants to be one though. Her goals will actually push her past that point if she succeeds. Her magic was corrupted, and she was taught only the darkest of ways of using her magic. From controlling a persons soul, making them walk straight into their deaths, or even swallowing their souls, and using a persons blood as a way to control, and absorb some of their power, she was able to fool us because she could see what to do to win us over by looking at the kind of souls we have."

"What did she do?" Natsu asked, fighting the sense of dread that was making his stomach churn.

"After a while she managed to get into our good graces, and we let our guard down around her. She used this to her own advantage and began urging us to teach her the way of dragons, even convincing us to let her ingest a single drop of blood from each of us. Thankfully this is not enough to turn her into a full dragon or slayer. It did however, boost her powers exponentially, and she started trying to control us by the blood bond we now had, and by trying to manipulate our souls to do her bidding. As she did this, we felt…detached in a way. We could see everything she was doing, causing us to attack eachother with the intent to hurt or kill one another. But we could not fight her. This went on for a while, and we're still not entirely sure how, but we managed to break free of her control and restrain her, locking her deep in the mountain that we once called home." Anger seethed from Metalicana in a thick wave, and had many leaning back from him, hoping that he would manage to not lose control.

"We left immediately after to get as far from her as possible, and even decided on splitting up for however long it took. Then we found you runts, and seeing that while you were wary, and cautious of the world around you, each of you had great potential. And there was a chance that you could defeat Annabella should she ever manage to get free. We had honestly hoped that none of you would have to face this. But because she does not have your blood, or your souls, you have a better chance of beating her for good." Igneel explained, placing a firm hand on Metalicana's shoulder in hopes to calm him.

"But they have Lucy and Gajeel now…. And she's likely to have already taken his blood, and control his soul." Levy whispered, gulping back the hard lump that clogged her throat as tears once more burned at her eyes.

"I know Levy, and for that I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am for this happening, but I'm sure we will get them back." Igneel soothed, reaching out to clasp her hand firmly.

"And you won't be alone to get him back Levy." Pantherlily spoke up from the short stack of books he had perched on. The exceeds had been silent this entire time, taking in the information, starting to understand why they had been brought to their partners before it was time. "You know I would do anything to help him, and you. And the exceeds will help in any way possible."

Smiling weakly, Levy reached up to scratch Lily between his ears, her smile growing at the slight blush that darkened his cheeks. Feeling a slight weight settle onto her lap, she looked down to find the grey and black exceed, Lynn, sitting in her lap and looking up at her. "Don't worry Levy, everything will turn out for the better someway. We just have to work together." Lynn said with a smile, nuzzling deeper into the warmth of Levy's stomach.

"That is something that still puzzles me greatly." Markarov finally spoke up, looking at the exceeds sprawled out over the table and some laps. He noticed that at some point Happy had once more climbed on Natsus' head and the mocha striped exceed, Clarity if he remembered correctly, had once more draped herself over Natsus' right arm.

"What's that Gramps?" Jolting a bit in surprise, Markarov turned, remembering that Laxus had been down here before him, having gotten back with the other slayers. He eyed his grandson with the tan exceed perched on his shoulder and knew that that was a sight he wasn't likely to forget any time soon. He could also see that while Laxus may have been scowling, there was definitely a hint of…pleasure?...as he looked at the exceed from the corner of his eye. Deciding to leave that alone for the time being, Markarov turned back to the group at large.

"What are all of these exceeds doing here? As far as I understood, only slayers seemed to be paired with them, and yet, we have an over abundance of them, and all at once!" He claimed, his hand sweeping out to encase the jumble of bodies and colored fur spread over the table. Seeing movement from the side, he shifted his gaze to find Metalicana smirking, and Igneel rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile.

"Uh…yea…that would partially be my fault." He said with a shrug. "A number of years ago, in my travels, I came across the exceeds. It was during that especially bad winter, and I found that they were nearly freezing to death. Between the winter storms, the winds, and everything else, their village had been all but destroyed. I could tell that they were a kind simple creature, and so I found a large system of caves near their village, and after making sure there was nothing that could hurt them in there, I went back and collected them, taking them to the caves, and with my body heat I was able to warm the place up quickly.

"After that, I encouraged them to set up the caves to be their new home, placed a protective spell on it, and continued on my way. Since that time though, we've kept in touch, with me visiting on occasion. The queen and I became close friends, and I found out after a time that she had the gift of vision. So she kept me updated on the going-ons of my son, and possible futures. All of the slayers are meant to have an exceed partner to help them with flying and other things. The mates of the slayers are as well, as an extra line of defense against possible danger or harm.

"Not that long ago, the queen came to me, scared, with a vision of a future that had felt so real that she knew if steps weren't taken, it would certainly happen. With that knowledge, I knew it was time to come back, and that the others would be soon to follow. I instructed her to gather the needed exceeds, the ones she saw helping in her vision, and to send them here. Which she did. So they're now here and waiting for their partners to arrive." Igneel finished with a huff, licking his slightly dry lips. It had been a VERY long time since he had spoken that much, but he knew that it had needed to be done so that the majority of those involved understood what was happening.

Silence fell over the library as everyone took a few moments to process what had been revealed, and it wasn't until Freed spoke up with a question that made everyone aware of one of the few things they had missed.

"Igneel….Metalicana…you mentioned that this…Annabella?...You mentioned that like your own children she had been found and raised, but only to be used for her magic. Were you ever able to find out who it was? If we know who it was, then it may give us the edge we need to beat her and the threat she imposes on all of us. After all, if you weren't able to defeat her completely, she must be very powerful." Freed asked, his gaze locked on the two dragons, noticing with some surprise how both of then flinched rather violently before paling drastically.

Gulping, and sneering like a rather bad smell had just decided to plant itself into their nostrils, they nodded. "Yea, we know who it was. After the bitch had managed to gain control of us, she loved to brag about how strong she would be thanks to him. I wonder if she thinks he'll still uphold his end of the deal if she manages to complete the tasks he gave her even after all of this time." Metalicana said. It was obvious from the tone of his voice that just the thought of this mag had him fighting the urge to throw up.

"I actually wouldn't put it past her to believe that, or for him to let her continue to think that. If there is one thing that he has down to an art, it's his patience. And I wouldn't be surprised if she does still think he will, seeing as she's just as crazy as he is, if not more so. And I didn't even think that it was possible to be that crazy." Igneel muttered, biting his lip as a sign of the nerves he was trying to hide.

The feeling of a small hand covering the one still holding hers had Igneel coming back to the present enough to see the sadness in the chocolate colored eyes peering into his. Seeing that alone had his heart clutching and all he could do was hope that everything could be fixed.

"Please Igneel….if knowing this means that we could get Lucy, her spirits, and Gajeel back…please….who was it that corrupted that little girl so much." Her voice was quiet, and surprisingly steady, despite the tears that had started escaping her eyes once more. This time though, with how intent she was on him, he was certain she didn't even realize she was crying again.

Gritting his teeth, hating knowing that what he was about to say was sure to shake the groups already crumbling world, he let the name go with a growl, feeling like he wanted to scrape the top of his tongue off repeatedly for even saying it.

 _"Acnologia."_


	14. Chapter 14 The Chained Iron

**A/N:** Hey everybody! I know it's been a while since I've updated this story and for that I am so sorry! But now I'm back, no not from outer space, and I'm looking to try and keep with updating on a semi-regular basis again. This is a shorter chapter, but the next one is a bit longer, and some fun things are going to happen. I already have the next chapter typed up, and will be posting that one as soon as possible. SO please forgive me, put away the torches and pitchforks, I'm back to continue doing writing in what free time I have from work. Please remember to read and review!

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Chapter 14 The Chained Iron

Gritting his teeth, hating knowing that what he was about to say was sure to shake the groups already crumbling world, he let the name go with a growl, feeling like he wanted to scrape the top of his tongue off repeatedly for even saying it.

"Acnologia."

* * *

The silence that fell around the group was deafening, causing many sets of ears to start ringing. Of all the people it could have been, it was him? The knowledge alone was almost too much to grasp for many, but the silence didn't last long as deep menacing growls broke through the still air.

"Acnologia?!" Natsu seethed, fighting for the control that was only barely within his grasp as the temperature around him rose by several searing degrees. The blood pounding in his ears and the rage that quickened his heartbeat made him deaf to the pained gasp from Levy as she was quickly yanked away from him by Laxus. Tilting her head back, she saw Laxus staring hard at Natsu and she realized that he was gauging how close Natsu was to losing control again.

After a few tense moments passed as everyone watched him closely, the temperature slowly lessened, making it easier to breathe again as Natsu continued taking deep breaths.

"So what you mean to tell us, is that it's because of Acnologia that we're losing our mages to some crazy chick he took in for his own goals?" Laxus asked bluntly, turning his attention to the two new dragons.

"That's exactly what we're saying." Metalicana huffed, leaning back to cross his arms over his chest.

"And you know how to find Lucy and Gajeel?" Mira asked, stepping up to lay a hand on Levy's shoulder. She could feel her trembling and knew that she was close to tears once more.

"We're still not sure about Lucy, as we don't yet know why she even wants Lucy. Gajeel on the other hand, we can find by following his smell, as well as the connection that I have with him since he's my son." Metalicana explained.

"There is something I still don't entirely understand." Freed said, watching the group closely. When they turned their gaze to him, he straightened his shoulders. "How is it that Igneel and Metalicana came to be here at this time? It seems like they're only showing up in just the nick of time so to speak."

No one missed the looks or sighs that the two dragons exchanged.

"That is something to be explained at a later time." The master cut in, answering for the dragons even as Igneel opened his own mouth to answer. "Right now we should be focusing on the fact that they are here to help, and can provide assistance to us that we did not have before."

"He's right, and it's something I'm sure they'll explain to use once our current problems are solved. For now, Metalicana, please, help us find our nakama." Mira stated, her eyes determined.

"Of course. Levy, I can smell Gajeels iron on you, can I please borrow it for a moment?" He asked, turning to the small fairy with an oddly gentle smile. Blinking, she stared at him for a moment, uncertain as to what he was talking about.

"Oh! Of course!" Scrambling for her back, she yanked it open to dig for the bracelet that she took off when she was reading and writing, but always kept with her. Blushing slightly, she pulled it out to hand over to Metalicana. Holding it close, he couldn't help but smile at the intricate details of the dragon that made up the bracelet to reside on Levy's wrist.

"He's definitely gotten better in his craftsmanship, I'll give him that. But that aside for now, give me a moment, and do as I say alright?"

"Yes sir." Was echoed throughout the room. Taking a deep breath, Metalicana held the bracelet in one hand and started focusing his magic. It took a few moments, but soon enough, the piece of jewelry started glowing and a thin red line, like that of a laser, shot free from it, pointing to the west. Glancing at those surrounding him, he nodded his head before heading up the stairs.

"Maki, have the rest of the guild stay here, but a few of us will follow, and please keep the exceeds safe." Igneel stated before rushing after his brother. Levy was quick to scramble behind him, with Mira and the other dragon slayers. Watching them go, Makarov felt the weight of all that was happening sit heavily on his shoulders and he could only hope that they found their missing nakama. For everyones sake.

A few hours later, two large dragons touched down at the edge of a large lake, letting those riding on their backs down before shifting into their human forms. The group of eight stood on the shore, eyeing the crumbling castle that they were sure had once been magnificent in its place on the lake.

Now it was a crumbling ruin, but sure enough the glowing bracelet being carried by Levy still pointed towards the castle.

"So he's there?" Levy asked. She had a million other questions she wanted to ask, but she also knew that right now she just wanted Gajeel back with her. Her questions could wait.

"Yes. Since he made that bracelet out of his own iron, I can track him with it. Unfortunately you wouldn't have been able to do so before now, because only another dragon can do that type of tracking spell, and it wasn't one that had been taught to the slayers." Metalicana explained gruffly, arms crossing over his chest. "So now the question is, how do we get over there?"

With a small smirk to his lips, Gray stepped up to the edge of the water, kneeling down to place his hands against the water. "Don't worry, I've got this one." He didn't have to look to know he was getting scowled at. When the original group of six had tried to leave without him and Erza, they had latched on and refused to let go until Wendy and Levy spoke on their behalf and the use that they could end up being. "Ice Make: Path!"

A moment later a wide path led from the shore of the lake to the castle itself, and without any prompting, they started crossing the massive lake.

After about half an hour of silent walking, they finally reached the castle, and they stopped for a moment to take a look around, before glancing back at Levy and her bracelet. By now she had put the bracelet on to help keep from losing it but still be able to use it. Pushing past those who stood in front of her, Levy scrambled up the stone steps that led from the shore, into the quietly crumbling castle. Barely heard cursing could be heard behind her as the others followed.

As soon as they entered the castle, they could feel how damp and cold it was; water could be heard dripping, with the occasional scurry of little feet that belong to a variety of rodents. Levy was so focused on finding Gajeel that she didn't hear any of those sounds, her gaze flicking around her, and back to her bracelet to make sure she was going the right direction. She didn't even notice when the others branched off to see if there were any answers to be found about this enemy.

Seemingly endless steps later found her staring at a dim doorway. Without a second thought, she stepped through, somehow knowing that this was where her mate was. How she found him though, had her stomach clenching and tears burning at her eyes. Even in the dim light of a single torch, she saw him chained up, spread out, with his head hanging and his hair, the hair she loved to play with, laying limp against his back. Biting her lip, and swallowing back her tears, she was quick to cross the room and lift his head with gentle hands, brushing his sweat heavy hair back from his face.

"Gajeel? Please baby, I need you to wake up…." Levy whispered, touching him carefully, running her fingers over his piercings, hoping that her touch would bring him back to her. A low groan could be heard, and she brought her eyes to his…only to whimper in fear. One eye was his usual ruby red, while the other was solid black with a slitted red pupil.

"Sh-shrimp….run…" Gajeel whispered hoarsely, trembling. The sound of his voice made her whimper all that much more. It sounded like he had been screaming for hours.

"No way in hell. The others are here as well, we'll get you out of here Gajeel, I promise!" Levy whispered fervently, cupping his face in her hands. She saw his eyes widen in anger and fear and she stepped back to turn; only to feel a shooting pain pierce her back. Feeling something explode from her chest, she looked down to find the tip of a sword quickly puncture up into Gajeel. Into his heart.

The scream of pain and anger that escaped her at the point caused even the birds beyond the castle walls to take sudden flight.


	15. Chapter 15 Iron Freedom

_The comforting smell of ink and paper was the first thing he noticed as he carefully opened the set of heavy oak and iron braced doors before him. Strangely enough he felt no hunger at the smell of the iron, but realized that it smelled exactly like his own. Taking a moment to peer closer at the doors in the dim light, he could see the faint trace of a mixed language carved into the grain of the wood, carrying with it the slightest hint of Levy's smell. Feeling his lips curve slightly, he continued through the doorway to find himself in a large open aired room lined with shelves and endless books. The smell of his iron was much stronger here, and he could see multiple, elegantly made, tables, chairs, lamps, and benches throughout the room. Taking a step closer to peer at the closest shelf, he could see that it was made of iron as well, molded to appear as vines, swirls, and flowers. The burst of pride he felt as he saw the work he had done with his iron for the books that his shrimp loved had his chest swelling with emotion._

 _He could smell her there, lingering on the books, stronger on some. Breathing deeper, he could tell that she was there from how strong it was coming from a hidden corner of the room. Passing quickly by the different furniture which he quickly found was all made from his iron, and cushioned with endless pillows and blankets, he paused at the end of one bookcase to peer around the corner, a full grin spreading across his face at what he saw._

 _He had seen this before many times, but still he knew he would never get tired of it. The sight of his shrimp curled up in an overlarge iron chair with a blanket wrapped around her, legs draped over an chair arm, and thick book nestled in her lap was a favorite of his. And he knew from just looking that she was lost in whatever she was reading, so he'd be able to sne-_

' _I know you're there Gajeel.' Levy murmured, knowing her low voice would reach his sensitive ears. The grumbled curse that came from the end of the row had her smiling slightly as she tilted her head up ever so slightly to see him come around the edge of the case with a scowl on his face._

' _How did you know I was there shrimp? Your hearing isn't as strong as mine.' He asked with a slight pout as he walked to her before kneeling down in front of the chair._

' _It's not, but we're mates. I've always known when you were around in some way. It soothes me.' She said softly, lifting a hand to run her fingers over his cheek. Her smile spread further when he pressed into her hand, a soft purr rumbling from him as his eyes fell shut. Opening his eyes once more, he eyed the book in her lap for a moment before reaching out to close it, making note of the page she was on. Reading the cover of the book, he felt his eyes widen before looking at her once more, her gaze locked on her hands in her lap._

' _Soul bonds shrimp? I thought we discussed this.'_

' _We did. Kinda. Right before-'_

' _Before Lucy and Loke grabbed me.' Gajeel breathed, looking at his surroundings once more. He had noticed when he had first come in that the room had an odd dreamy, other worldly feel to it, but he had brushed it off as being safe since he had recognized his iron, and Levy's smell on the books. 'Shrimp? Where are we?'_

' _I'm not entirely sure…but….we're in two places at the same time I know that much. We, me and the others found you, but something happened to send you and I here. Gajeel, I know you think that I'm strong enough to live life without you if something happened to you….but I can't. Losing you, and being left behind like that isn't something I can do, and honestly, I don't want to. If I'm going to be with you, I want it in every sense of the word.'_

' _Levy.'_

 _Gulping, she raised her eyes to find the heated ruby gaze staring intently at her._

' _If we're where I think we are…you know what that means….we've been hurt….fatally.' He said gruffly, his head and gaze dropping in shame. 'I didn't protect you like I was supposed to.' Feeling her small hands cradle his head, he lifted his gaze to hers once more. The amount of love and tenderness he found staring back at him had his breath stalling in his lungs, making him light headed._

' _Gajeel, you metal brained idiot, I don't care about that, as long as I'm with you. As long as we can have our soul bond, then we'll find each other again. As long as I don't have to live my entire life without you….whichever life that might be, I don't care if I die a thousand times as long as I know you'll be there with me. Please Gajeel, give me this.' Levy said quietly, leaning forward to nuzzle her cheek against his, her soft voice teasing his ear._

 _Blinking quickly to stem the moisture threatening to escape his eyes, a ragged breath leaving his lungs, Gajeel raised his arms to bring her tightly against him. 'I don't deserve you Levy.' He growled, burying his nose in her hair. Her responding giggle had a smile teasing at his lips again._

' _You may not deserve me Gajeel….but I deserve you. And someday you'll see that you do deserve me.' Levy answered. Grinning wickedly against his ear, she nipped at his lobe, loving the feeling of him tensing and shuddering against her. Neither of them noticed the book landing and falling open on the floor beside them._

' _Be careful what you say shrimp. You may not be able to handle what I've been wanting to dish out to you for a long time now.' Gajeel muttered, pulling back to find her eyes filled with such heat and lust and love, that he couldn't help but groan as he went rock hard against her. The wicked promises filling those eyes he loved so much had him trembling already._

' _Oh really? I'm not glass Black Steel Gajeel. I can take anything you dish out.' Levy breathed, leaning up to lightly kiss him, her breath teasing across his skin. 'Show me what you got.' She finished wickedly with a mocking lift of an eyebrow._

 _The baring of teeth that was her answer had her gasping in delight as dampness pooled between her legs. The sudden shifting of bodies as he lifted them to his feet had her wrapping her legs around him, moaning in blatant delight at the rigid heat now pressing tightly against her._

' _We're running out of time Lev. This isn't going to be slow, or gentle.' Gajeel gritted out, pressing his lips against the skin of her shoulder._

' _Don't care, want it, want you.' Was her panting reply. 'I love you Gajeel, completely. We can do slow another time, but we've waited and danced around this long enough. Give it all to me!' Levy snarled, surprising Gajeel with the intensity behind her words. The sound of ripping cloth could be heard followed by her small teeth sinking into his skin in a harsh bite had him shouting out in both arousal, pain, and utter delight._

 _She had torn his shirt then bitten him! Growling in utter delight, he walked her backwards, slamming her into a bookcase. He worried it was too much at first, but the cry he had heard as pain was quickly forgotten as the smell of her increased arousal wrapped itself around his throat, yanking him to her harder._

' _Dammit Levy I love you, have since I joined the guild.' He moaned, nipping the skin at her neck and shoulder as he reached to pull the blanket away from her. Blinking in shock, he pulled away enough to find that what he had felt wasn't his imagination. Pulling the blanket away completely he found her bare to him. 'H-holy shit shrimp! Are you trying to give me a heart attack!?' He gulped hard. Seeing her like this, bare, ready, and her arousal coating the air had his dragon side yanking at the chain of control he was struggling to hold onto._

' _No, but I didn't want to waste any more time. We've done enough of that haven't we?' Levy purred, curling her arms around him to pull him into a deep kiss._

' _Damn Levy you're going to be the death of me.' He groaned before kissing her hard, his teeth biting into her lips and his tongue surging in to claim her mouth._

 _Yanking her head away to lean it back against the shelves behind her, breathes panting, moans falling from her like music, she couldn't stop her body from moving against him, trying to push herself that much closer to him and to the edge she was looking for. Hearing his words through the pounding blood in her ears had her smirking slightly, even as she gasped at the feeling of him biting into her skin._

 _Threading her hands through his hair, gripping it tightly, she had to use brute strength to lift his gaze to hers this time._

' _No Gajeel, we'll be the life of each other. Now claim me, mark me, bond with me dammit!' Levy growled, using one hand to quickly free him of his pants. The first feel of her fingers around him had him growling, his head thrown back as she quickly guided him to her where he could feel just how ready she was, had been for longer than he was sure he fully knew._

 _The first touch of his shaft to her entrance snapped the mental chain he had on his dragon and in an instant he shifted to his iron form. The lust filled groan that escaped Levy had him grinning, before burying himself into her heat in one fast, unrelenting thrust. Her cry of pain had him pausing, but her words is what snapped the last link he had on keeping his need for her under control. 'Don't you dare fucking stop Gajeel! I want it all!' Her words, and the tightening of her hands in his hair had him letting go of everything._

 _Growls, grunts, moans and cries echoed through the room, the sound of metal sinking into warm flesh a heady aphrodisiac for those pushing themselves closer to the edge of the cliff that would send them flying to the heavens._

 _Panting harshly, Gajeel slammed a hand into the shelf next Levy's head, trying to keep his own orgasm at bay. Feeling her nails digging into him even through his iron, and her core clutching at him, had him teetering on the edge already. She was everything he had every wanted, and he wanted to make this good for her. Her cries of pleasure had him going harder into her, hitting that one spot he knew would drive her insane. The tightening of her legs around him had him cursing as he was pushed even deeper into her._

' _Oh god Gajeel!'_

' _That's it Levy, take what you want, show me how much you can take!' Gajeel grunted into her ear. When all he got was a mewling whimper, he felt a bit of smug pride. He could tell she was close from how much tighter she was getting. With his free hand he reached between their bodies, rolling his iron coated thumb around the clit he knew was sensitive and throbbing. The resulting shriek had his ears ringing even as she stiffened in climax._

 _The sudden sinking of her teeth, hard enough to break his iron coated skin, had him roaring in both pleasure and surprise as it threw him over the edge to his own climax. Instincts drove him on as he bent his head, his own hardened teeth breaking her skin open._

 _Neither of them saw the ribbons of iron or glowing runes that wrapped around them, sealing them together for all eternity._

* * *

 _Slowly, carefully, Gajeel removed his teeth from his mates skin, leaning back to catch his breath. He had never felt pleasure so strong or anything quite like that before in his life, and he knew that she was the only one he would even find that with. His head was still swimming, body humming, and feeling much like the cat who had gotten into the cream when he realized just what it was he was now seeing happen._

 _Blinking in shock, he lifted his head to get a clearer view, watching in awe as the bite he had given Levy as his mark started forming over her skin. Veins of iron started racing from the bite, swirling, and filling in, growing larger by the moment until finally it stopped and he saw a set of bright red eyes staring up at him. The slight curl of the lips on the long snout he saw had him blinking again, gaping. Tracing his eyes over the mark, he saw that its color matched that of his iron, darker in some sports, lighter in others, forming a dragon that draped itself over Levy's shoulder. For a moment he felt a pang of sadness that they didn't have a mark that moved like Natsu's when the snout opened on a large yawn. He couldn't stop the bark of laughter that escaped him at that point._

 _Feeling his small mate shift against him, he leaned back from her to find her gazing up at him with a much satisfied look on her face, lips curled in a smug manner. Clearing his throat carefully, he asked gruffly 'How're you feeling shrimp?'_

' _Hmmm I feel wonderfully wrung out.' She answered with a contented purr. She couldn't help but be a little evil as she lifted her arms to stretch, causing her body to roll against his in a languid caress. The resulting purr she got out of him had her smiling further._

' _Well then I did my job right.' He replied with a smirk. Feeling her hands trail up his chest, he couldn't stop the shiver that raced across his skin._

' _Indeed you did. How about you? How're you feeling?' Levy asked._

' _Feeling pretty damn smug actually Gihii.' He answered with a smirk._

' _I'm sure you are.' Levy said with a small smile. Letting her gaze wander over him, she found her mark on him, wrapping around his bicep, the dragon seemed small in comparison to him, but cool hazel eyes blinked back at her from his mark, and she knew that they were bonded._

 _She opened her mouth to comment on the mark when she felt a sudden searing pain lance through her back, causing her to arch and cry out, scrambling to hold onto Gajeel._

' _Shri-dammit!' Gajeel cursed, feeling a slicing pain flare through his torso. His eyes widened in shock at the sight of blood flooding from a wound that appeared between Levy's breasts. Feeling another sharp stabbing pain in his own chest, he looked to find a wound similar to hers appear where his heart was._

' _Ga-Gajeel! We ha-have to go back!' Levy gasped at the pain throbbing through her. Without another word from her, she disappeared._

 _A roar of rage escaped him, his hands slamming into the shelves when she disappeared. Hissing through the pain racing through him, and fighting the dizziness that forced him to his knees, he took one more look around, loving the room he saw. Seeing the book from earlier that had fallen open, he looked closer. What he saw had a giddy smile spreading across his face, and this time it was with pure joy that he left the world they shared._

* * *

He came to with a gasp, pain radiating through him, instincts pushing him to break free of his restraints. A flood of smells came to him, and his eyes raced across what surrounded him. Salamander, light socket, Mira, Wendy, Erza, Gray, Levy and-and- he felt his mind screech to a halt in denial at the overwhelming smell of blood that nearly covered all of his guild mates smells.

Levy.

LEVY.

LEVY!

A roar of anger exploded from him, shaking the very walls around him as he saw Levy leaning against him, the hilt of a sword protruding from her back. He could feel the sword buried in him as well, its point puncturing his heart but at that moment he didn't care. He was still stuck in the chains that cancelled out his magic, but he no longer felt the magic from before trying to force itself through his system.

He could see the child from before in the shadows, and from the snarl on her face, to the smell of Levy's blood on her hands, he knew that she was the one to have fun his shrimp through with a sword. He managed to keep from moving too much in fear of making Levy's wound worse, but he had no qualms about letting out roars to let the others know where they were.

He wanted blood. He wanted death. The urge to kill pressed on him, stronger than ever before, even more than when he had been in Phantom Lord. This bitch child had hurt his mate and now he couldn't control the dragon within that was snapping and snarling to rip the childs head from her shoulders.

"She was weak, and tried to ruin my plans. She was disposable. You on the other hand are not." The child explained with a sneer. Stepping forward, she gripped the sword that she had let go before and yanked it free from the small woman. The answering roar that came from the chained dragon slayer as Levy slumped to the floor, had her smirking before cursing. She could hear the shouts and responding roars coming from above. Stepping over Levy's body, she reached up to caress the thrashing dragons cheek. "Don't worry pet, I'll be back for you later. I will find you again." The child hummed in delight at the smell of the blood thick in the air.

Feeling the child pet his cheek had Gajeel wanting to throw up repeatedly, but he managed to still himself as she touched him, letting her say what she wanted even as his dragon strained to get to his mate. Gulping down the thought of what he was about to do, along with his stomach, he waited for the child to pass her thumb over his lips….once….more….now!

The scream of agony that echoed through the room soothed his dragon for a moment as he lashed out, his teeth turning to razor sharp steel long enough to bite off the digit that kept offending him. The taste of her blood in his mouth had him fighting his gag reflex, but he couldn't let that piece of this bitch go. He smirked in sadistic pleasure as she stumbled back, a snarl crossing her face as she readied her magic to lash out at him. He tried to brace himself for it, but he needn't have bothered.

The wall to his left exploded inward and he had to whip his head to the right to keep from getting hit with flying chunks of stone. Cracking his eyes open he turned his head to find a group of people standing there, and the magic pulsing off of them, not to mention the anger would've normally caused him to piss himself. Instead he turned his head back in time to see the child glaring at them before taking a step back and disappearing in a red mist. A split second too late a flame and lightning fed fist exploded against where she had been. Cursing spilled free of Natsu's mouth as he stood once more, turning to face Gajeel. Without a word, Gajeel spit the thumb still in his mouth at Natsu's feet before passing out once more.


	16. Chapter 16 Long Time Coming

Chapter 16 Long Time Coming

The first thing he noticed was the strong ache in his shoulders. Just the thought of even attempting to move them in any way had his body screaming in agony. The next was that he was on something soft, and had his hand locked around a much smaller one. The smells were next, the sterile smell of chemicals, wind, sheets, ink, and old books.

'Levy?' He thought quietly, his hand curling further around the one in his own.

'I'm here Gajeel.' The reply whispering across his mind like that of a soft caress had his eyes shooting open in shock. His eyes darted around, taking in familiar stone walls, and multiple pre-made single beds. Managing to shift his head and eyes ever so slightly, he found Levy stretched out on the bed next to him, her hazel eyes warm and calm.

'Y-you can hear me?' He stammered in his head, locking eyes with her. The small smile that she gave him was all the answer he needed, though the voice in his head, her voice, helped soothe him further.

'Yes I can, just as you can hear me. I think it's part of the bond.'

'Bond? You mean-'

'Yes baby, we have the soul bond, and we survived it. Now you're really never getting rid of me.' Mischief crinkled the corners of her eyes, even as her smile morphed more into a smug smirk at his flabbergasted expression.

'As if I would ever really want to.' He huffed back with a smirk.

"You're awake!" The exclamation had them both jolting then groaning in pain as they shifted their gazes to the door of the room they were in, identifying it as an infirmary. Standing at the door was Yukino, hands holding a couple of glasses of water before her.

"Y-Yukino? Wh-" Levy broke off to cough harshly, her throat flaring in pain.

"Oh no, don't say anything yet, you're still recovering!" Yukino hurried forward with the water, setting the glasses down on the table beside them. "You've been here for a few days now, and actually kept us from coming to you. Rogue, Sting, Kagura and I were about to head to Fairy Tail a few days ago, when Team Natsu and a few others showed up carrying the two of you. Wendy had done what she could to help, but you both still needed rest and some healing so you're in Sabertooths infirmary." She explained quickly, helping to ease Levy then Gajeel into a sitting position. Picking up the water, she handed them each a glass, watching as they gulped the cool liquid down. "Apparently we were the closest guild to where you guys were, so that's how you ended up here instead back in your own infirmary."

"And apparently Levy can be a very strong willed, stubborn woman when her mate is in danger and refuses to take 'no' for an answer of any kind." Another voice spoke from the doorway, and they saw Igneel step into the room with a small smile. "I personally am very glad that you're both alright, and healing nicely."

"How are the two of you feeling?" Wendy asked as she stepped from behind Igneel, her anxiety to check on her patients coating the air lightly. When all she got was a shrug followed by a groan of pain from Gajeel, she quickly stepped up to their beds, her hands already glowing. "You shouldn't move your shoulders for a bit longer Gajeel, you were in pretty bad shape when we found you." Seeing his hand tighten reflexively around Levy's, she smiled. "She's fine, definitely in better shape than you are." Wendy assured him as the glow in her hands eased away.

"I-I remember- something…a-a sword?" Gajeel muttered, his voice still rough. Seeing Wendy cringe followed by feeling Levy wincing had a darkened look crossing his face.

"Um…there was a sword…yes….when we found you, you were still chained up, barely conscious, and had spit a bitten off thumb at Natsu before passing out again from blood loss. As for Levy….well…she had been run through with a sword, and was at your feet when we got there. I healed her first while the others got you down, and then I worked on you. A lot more damage was done to you, but it looked like the sword that had run her through had also been stabbed into you, as your heart was pumping out a lot of blood. We almost lost you, but got to you just in time." Wendy explained, while Igneel grabbed a chair to sit on to watch the young dragon slayer work.

"The two of you definitely work well together as you're both very strong willed." Igneel commented with a smirk to the two of them, smiling fully at the hint of pink that stained their cheeks.

It was at that moment that Gajeel sat up quickly, biting back a moan at the flare of pain when he caught a whiff of someone he hadn't seen in a long time. Someone he had started thinking he would never see again. Heavy footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway, and Igneel couldn't help but watch in amusement as Gajeel's nose started twitching. His next words only had him shaking his head is resignation.

"METALICANA YOU SORRY EXCUSE FOR A GODDAMN BUCKET OF RUSTY NAILS! WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF PARENT ARE YOU TO LEAVE YOUR OWN SON!?" Gajeel roared, his teeth gritted and his pain and injuries obviously no longer as important as confronting the dragon he had seen as a father. Even as Ley tried to pull him back into the bed, he was shaking her off to stand on trembling legs, taking one shuffling step after another towards the door. The sight of his father in his human form, and not looking a day older than when he had left had Gajeel snarling as he threw the first punch.

He ignored the fact that his fist was caught and he was looked at steadily, with no sympathy, or apology shining in Metalicana's eyes.

"The kind that was trying to protect his son." He answered smoothly. He was quick to catch Gajeel under the arms when his legs gave out on him. "Now get your stubborn ass back into bed." He said gruffly, shifting to help drag, then dump him once more next to Levy.

"Why?" Gajeel snarled, panting heavily as the pain settled over his body again.

"Because at the time we had no choice." Igneel answered. "And that is all the answer you need for now."

"Calm yourself down, if not for your sake, then for your mates. Nice soul bond mark by the way. I'm honestly glad you found eachother." Metalicana muttered, running his gaze over the dragon that had wrapped itself around Gajeel's neck much like that of a necklace or scarf. At the blank gaze his son gave him, he let out a bark of laughter. "Forgot about that didn't you?"

Feeling a light touch that tapped on his left forearm, followed by a trail of vibrations along his skin, Gajeel looked down in time to see a white and black speckled dragon move to wrap itself around his forearm. Hearing a giggle, he looked over to find that Levy was looking at him with an understanding look on her face, only to follow her pointing finger to her own iron dragon snoozing away on her arm. He could tell it was snoozing only because of the rise and fall of its sides as it breathed deeply.

"Well I'll be...the great Black Steel Gajeel speechless? Let me mark that down on the calendar…" Levy murmured, scooting over to press against him. "Why don't you take a closer look at your own dragon…"

Letting his gaze shift back to the dragon that now decorated his lower arm, he stared at it for a moment before realizing why it looked so odd. It was a white dragon with what he had thought was black scales, however as he looked closer, he realized they were runes. And on closer inspection he found a stack of books peeking out from under a folded wing, and a tome held open by careful claws.

"A book wyrm? Seriously?" Gajeel asked incredulously.

"Yes, a book wyrm, which in all honesty fits if you think about it." Levy said with a laugh. Taking that moment, he realized she was right. She loved books, and her specialty was research, so it really did fit.

"There's also something else you two should know about the bonds." Yukino spoke up, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to Levy. Seeing the two older dragons exchange an amused smirk, the newly bonded couple turned to her.

"And what would that be?" Levy asked, reaching out to lace her fingers through his.

"Being soul bonded allows you to tap into a portion of eachothers magic. You can tap into some of Gajeels dragon slayer magic now, and Gajeel, you can tap into hers." Igneel picked up with a small smile.

Frowning at the dragon on his arm slightly, he took a deep breath and focused on the new energy and knowledge he felt filling him. Following instinct, he spoke. "Solid Script: Water!" About a bucketful of water appeared out of nowhere, to douse the two older dragons, leaving them spluttering.

"Dammit boy!" Metalicana cursed, shaking himself as he glared at his son through dripping bangs. He couldn't fight the small twitch that pulled at his lips as Gajeel started laughing hard at their sudden wet appearance.

Choking on her own laughter, Levy waved a hand and managed to squeak out "Solid Script: Dry!" to help the dragons from getting sick.

"Thank you for that Levy. Now why don't you show Gajeel one of the things you can do with his own magic?" Igneel requested with a knowing look in his eyes. Smiling back at him she nodded before turning back to Gajeel.

"Close your eyes, please? I want to surprise you with this." Levy requested softly. Staring at her in confusion, he bit his lip before nodding slowly and letting his eyes fall shut. A few moments passed as he waited, and he could feel the magic pulse from her. It was his, yet hers at the same time, different in a way, and he could feel it grow gently, caressing against him in a familiar touch.

When she finally said he could open his eyes, what he saw was the last thing he expected, and he could feel his jaw drop in awe.


	17. Authors Note: Sassy is Back!

Hey everyone I'm back! I know it's been a while-*ducks thrown items with a squeak*-I'm sorry I'm sorry! Please hear me out!

In the last year, my life has undergone some changes. Went from a part time job to a full time job at a call center, met my now husband, who I married back in February, and my laptop got fried. And of course have been experiencing health problems, which has had me go to urgent care and the ER more times than I care to think about.

All's well that ends well though!

As of today, I have a new laptop, and the first thing I did was work on putting this note out there for all of you wonderful readers, to let you know that while I juggle my job, my poor excuse of a social life, and spending time with my husband and furry four legged child, I am back to update Loves Ignorance, and The Dragons Bookworm.

Oh and to announce a new story that I have started, a bit of crackship, and a dip into the BDSM lifestyle. The new story will be titled Mind, Body, and Soul, and since I know all of you wonderful readers are very smart, I'm sure you'll be able to figure out which Fairy Tail characters are going to be focused on in this new story.

Please feel free to leave comments in the notes on this, and if you have any particular request for the new story, I'll see what I can do to write a chapter around that particular request. Once again, thank you so much all of you for your patience, it will all pay off and hopefully have some new chapters coming to you soon!

 **nuzzles to placate all of the impatient readers**

~Sassykitten~


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